Taming the Demon
by Almiloveskiro
Summary: Extension of Payback. Everybody thinks that Sena doesn't fight back because he can't. That's wrong. It's because he doesn't feel like it. Something Hiruma comes to understand quite... intimately. Rated M for future chapters.
1. The Boy With Golden Legs

The first time Hiruma Yoichi saw Kobayakawa Sena, he decided the shrimp was nothing special. Still, he hauled the fucking fat ass out to toss him in the air, steal his number, and acquire his address because at this stage of the game Hiruma couldn't afford to be picky.

The second time, Hiruma watched a pathetic little worm of a person transform into what he _knew _was going to become his ace running back. From quivering to resolved, terrified to determined.

Victim to Take-No-Prisoners-style kick ass.

Hiruma decided as he watched, started plotting how the next few days were going to unfold. The kid would join team, become the secret ace player Eyeshield 21, and Hiruma would steadily chip away at the pathetic persona his prize had encased himself in.

That evening, after roping and shooting and bullying the kid, Hiruma thought back. Thought back to the transformation he had seen. He didn't replay the running this time, but the shorty's face. The moment the brat had stopped looking tearful and terrified and confused, the moment the determination and resolve took charge, the moment his stance was set and just before he took that first step, Hiruma saw something else in his eyes. Something he didn't really take notice of after the shrimp started moving. Something he had forgot about during the following activities. Something he almost didn't recognize because the last time he saw it was in the eyes of _that fucking dreads _whom Hiruma doesn't like to think about. Something he should've found shocking but didn't. Something…

Maniacal.

Rationally speaking, it made sense. The brat looks like the type to have endured physical and emotional torment most of his life. Kids like that came out of high school in one of three ways: A, in handcuffs after perpetrating a school shooting. B, covered in bruises, blood, and shit from fighting back. Or C, on a gurney, under a white sheet, having killed themselves. Hiruma figured the shorty to fit into the third category at first, but now he wasn't so sure. That look definitely said school shooter, but then why?

Why run from danger when one glimpse of that inner demon could send it fleeing back into its hidey holes?


	2. The 5 Second Wall and We Need 11!

Okay, so I intend to do this a couple chapters at a time. That does not mean that I will do every chapter. If there is not a certain amount of interaction between the devil and his ace, then chances are I may skip right over that chapter. Therefore I apologize in advance to all the Shin fans out there. I like the guy but I don't think he'll be seeing much screen time .

* * *

The kid's first practice wasn't exactly a memorable affair. Hiruma could tell on sight that Sena (the fat ass called him such) had regressed back into wimp mode. The blond had expected such and therefore made the most of it, tying the brat up and dragging him around like a rag doll. The quarterback made a big show of talking to Kurita, yelling about broken equipment, and generally ignoring the small boy. In reality, he was paying very close attention to even the smallest of twitches in the boy's muscles, trying to catch a glimpse of that dark, ugly creature behind the shorty's too-big eyes.

Nothing.

Running itself wasn't the key (_and what the fuck was with that first forty? Fucking shrimp let up after three fucking steps_), and setting Cerberus on him only made the kid cry like a bitch (_but that 4.2 seconds was worth every little whine_). What was it, what was it? Hiruma needed to be able to control the demon, direct it, channel it, but he couldn't do that if he couldn't tap into it, didn't know the source. It was like Cerberus and food: lack incentive, lack obedie-

Wait a minute. Cerberus.

The mutt would chase Sena for the dog biscuit down the back of his shirt. That was the plan. That was how it started.

But when Cerberus went in for the kill, he didn't go for the brat's shirt. The dog went straight for his _head._

When in packs, male dogs would fight over who got to be the 'alpha'. Usually they were fights to the death, but occasionally, the loser would be strong enough or good enough to keep on as a 'beta' and be spared after an appropriate show of dominance from the 'alpha'.

Cerberus wasn't chasing food. He was showing Sena who was Top Dog around here. Meaning the mutt had seen or sensed the thing inside of Sena and deemed it a threat.

_Think Hiruma, think! What are you missing? What happened when you looked down to check the stopwatch? In that one instant what changed?_

The direction of the kid, that's what.

When Hiruma looked up again, Cerberus had caught the shrimp and was gnawing on his skull. But Hiruma could see the brat's face, because the brat had changed direction. Most would attribute this to the kid's running style, the way he moved, but that wasn't right. When choosing the flight option between fight and flight, a person automatically runs away in the opposite direction from the danger, _in a straight line_. If the brat was turning while running, it means he wasn't fleeing.

He turned, intending to fight back.

There.

Confrontation, probably stemming from a deep seated rage at being the victim, was the key the demon's cage.

This could be both good and bad for Hiruma. Good because when the brat gets tackled during games, he's more likely to get his scrawny ass up and run again than lay there and whimper. But it could be bad because this kind of rage is very tricky to handle. Regular, run-of-the-mill anger could be incited and then quelled in a matter of words and gestures, but this was old hate. The kind of hate that has been with you so long, it's engrained into your soul and you don't remember what being without it is like; the kind of hate that can go from dead to inferno in less than a second, in any given situation; the kind of hate won't retreat until it's been paid in blood.

Hiruma was not afraid of a mere child, but he knew better than to be careless with the boy's handling. It may frighten the shorty excessively, but the quarterback would make it a point to keep the kid informed about most of his plans, at least the basics, for a while. Doing such would earn the kid's trust and convince him that they were on the same side. When the brat got used to the way Hiruma did things, the blond would begin keeping his plots to himself again.

But that was for later. Right now, the Devil Bats needed support players.

Xx121xX

Fuck, the pipsqueak whined a lot. Hiruma wondered if he'd ever get used to that nasally sound grating on his ears (_and why was he so hung up on being the manager? He'd never been on a sports team so he wouldn't know how to do the job properly anyway_). Tch. Whatever. Hiruma planned to round up more than eight recruits anyway, he supposed he could throw his new pet project a bone. If the kid didn't want to run his first game, that was fine. He would stay a secret and take the extra time to _learn the fucking rules of the sport._

He next saw the kid outside the basketball team clubroom. Shitty little brat had come racing up halls seeming quite hyped up about his new task, only to stop short in front of the door. He stood there and fidgeted for probably a full minute before finally knocking on the door and stuttering out some pathetic excuse for a request. It was not surprising at all when he was turned down. Hiruma was relatively pleased that the kid wasn't completely discouraged and ran off to find others. After the fat ass left, the Devil of Deimon went to work.

Back at the clubhouse, the quarterback was putting up chips to mark how many players he had recruited (_the shrimp and the fat ass had gotten exactly zero between the two of them! Useless bastards_) when he remembered he had ran out of gum earlier that day, and damn if he couldn't feel a craving coming on. So he left without as much as a word to the fat ass who was wailing about the lack of love for his favourite sport. He wondered what happened to the chibi, if he was still running around recruiting or if he got hooked into running errands again.

Running errands apparently, he saw the kid delivering newspapers on his way back to the school. If Hiruma was the type to do so, he would've sighed in dismay at how easily this kid fell into old habits. In the end, it was the cherry on top of his rage cake _because the fucking store ran out of his favourite gum, the shitheads! And now this!?_

Or maybe not. The newspaper running was part of a bargain for a potential recruit. The kid managed to put a chip on the board. Who would've thought? Not that it mattered though, which quickly became apparent when Hiruma put up the rest of his chips.

But progress was progress. Determination had beaten out wimpiness in Sena this time, and was likely to do so again. The brat was still pathetic, would be for some time, and Hiruma was still trying to figure out how he could properly channel the kid's inner demon, but it was alright for now. The first game was tomorrow and the fat ass had to suffer his penalty game.


	3. Kill 'Em to Eleven Scarecrows

The sun was warm and the breeze was mild, it was perfect weather for an _amefuto _game. The kid had finally stopped freaking out about the fat ass's punishment (_he was only carrying the luggage, dammit, chill the fuck out!_) and was sitting quietly in the corner with his phone in hand. Hiruma found himself curious about who he was messaging, who would the boy have as a companion that wasn't already here and how come they haven't developed a backbone in the little thing? More importantly, would they be a hindrance to Hiruma, or could they help him manipulate and bend the chibi's rage to his will?

That could wait until after the game though, because now the kid was looking at the tournament bracket and getting far too ahead of himself and all they needed to think about right now was _today's_ game, idiots. So the blond took a lighter he stole from one those three idiots whom sounded like brothers and torched the paper. This led to relatively unexpected results.

Was the brat startled? Yes, he was. Did he freak out a little? Yes, he did. Did he sit there and accept it? Mostly, but not quite. Hiruma was sure that he was the only one who could've noticed it, but it did happen. The scowl was unmistakeable and the wrist motion was lightning fast. Hiruma was 98% positive that if he had that lighter out another second, the small brunette would've tried to set the quarterback himself on fire.

Hiruma decided he should probably stick to shooting at the shrimp from a distance.

The brat's anger was gone in an instant as his focus shifted to the game and the Cupids and the rage directed at him with regards to cheerleaders. Fucking brat was crying again. You'd think by now the kid would understand that Hiruma always takes care of everything. Additionally, fan girls were _so easy _to manipulate.

Cheerleaders in place, the stupid brat finally understood _how_ _to fucking score_, Hiruma's favourite huddle shout made known, and the game begins. It went mostly as expected, the Devil Bats were terrible (of course they were, they were all subs from other teams), but the Cupids were just as bad (what's their excuse?) and the game carried on with neither team scoring until right up at the end when the Cupids got a kick in when Ishimaru twisted his ankle.

Fuck.

Normally, Hiruma would have no issues with dragging the pipsqueak in against his will. But was grating on him that _that fucking Shin_ would see him, meaning they would lose the element of surprise they would so desperately need against Ojou in the next game.

Musing on ways to get rid of Shin (_fucking Sakuraba was no threat, but only he would flee at the fan girl missile about to be launched at him_), the quarterback's eyes fell on the video camera Sena had left on the bench.

The blond whipped around and grinned. Sakuraba was holding a camera. If Sakuraba had to suddenly leave the game for some reason, he would thoughtlessly hand off the camera to Shin. If Shin held the camera, it would inevitably break in seconds. Shin, being technologically inept, would race after Sakuraba to find out what was wrong with the camera.

The Ojou scouts would vanish before the first hut. Hiruma loved his genius mind.

His euphoria was short lived when the little piece of shit in the eye shield started _running the wrong way! What the fuck was he doing this whole time, bird watching?! _Well, he made up for it in the end with a touchdown, and hot damn, watching that kid run was a thing a beauty. Sure, it took some cajoling, some encouragement, a mild guilt trip, but he did it. The kid scored a touchdown and won them the game.

And thus, Anezaki Mamori came running over to the bench, demanding to know what happened to Sena. Figures that the only friend the shorty has would be the most annoying disciplinarian of the lot. Hiruma 'tched' at the irony and sent the shrimp around back to change from 'ace hero' back to 'half dead secretary'. Knowing he was going to have a serious confrontation afterward, the blond went back out on the field for the try-for-point.


	4. This Hand Won't Stop Me to Lucky Punch

I _was _going to take this all the way to the end of the Deimon vs. Ojou (_am I spelling that right? I am, right?_) but then Sakuraba came out on the field and I'm like _no. _No offense Sakuraba fans, but before he meets Torakichi and Monta he's a bit of whiny bitch. I personally believe the broken collarbone Sena gave him was the best thing ever to happen to him.

* * *

True to form, Anezaki marched straight up to him, charging through the dozen celebrating players to demand the brat's removal from the team. Of course, she would never phrase it that way. As she saw it, Hiruma had been needlessly bullying Sena, which prompted him to wonder what condition she found him in. Surely not that bad, he was walking up behind her as she was yelling. A little dirty, a little rumpled, but not dying, injured, or even bruised. He hadn't even been tackled for fuck's sake!

Whatever, Anezaki could be handled as easily as anyone else thanks to Hiruma's Black Boo- Did she just threaten getting the team kicked out of the tournament? _Motherfucker,_ he stood no chance against her as long as she held that kind of power and now she was _walking away with his one shot at victory and there was no way that fucking disciplinarian was ever going to let the kid near him again-_

_"I'm going to stay on the football team."_

The kid said it. _The kid said it. _The scrawny brat was wilfully denying probably the only person who was ever kind to him in order to continue being part of Hiruma's team. Hiruma knew he should be ecstatic about this development, and he was, make no mistake, but there was another emotion too. Was it relief, maybe? Part of it was. But there was something else, something a little deeper. Not quite affection, but… fondness? Had he grown fond of the shrimp? Hiruma didn't know how he could, he had known the kid all of three days and most of that time the brat spent whining or crying or otherwise being pathetic. He would have to analyze this emotion later, right now he had an idea that would simultaneously get him free labour and stop Anezaki from poking her nose where it doesn't belong so much.

On top of that, from the looks on the faces of the recruits, the quarterback was going to have to keep the kid close to his side to prevent him from being stolen away by some other team. That was going to be a hassle, but Hiruma couldn't find it in himself to mind. A little disconcerting, but he shrugged it off and chalked it up to afterglow from Deimon's first victory, first manager, and first time having more than three team members.

He was pretty sure the kid was a little upset with him for tricking the girl (_not a fucking word to Anezaki about Eyeshield's identity!_), but he would learn in time that everything Hiruma did was for the good of the team. The kid would learn fast by the looks of the clubhouse the next day (_one woman did all this in a couple of hours!? Holy shit!_), but there was a more important use the quarterback was going to put the female to: an experiment to see if Sena's demon would be drawn out in defence of those around him.

So he antagonized Anezaki, insulted her, pretty much declared war on girl right there in the clubhouse. The kid did absolutely nothing about it but kept paying very close attention to their interaction. The blond realized what the shrimp apparently already knew: Anezaki Mamori was perfectly capable of defending herself. Hiruma held on to his third question to be used as a trump card at a later date.

The watching was a reminder: _I may not know exactly how much you're capable of, but neither do you know what I'm fully capable of. _

The stare lost a lot of effect when the kid's bench press turned out to be all of 10kg. At first Hiruma thought maybe he was a little prejudiced on this front, already benching 75kg, but when Anezaki laid back and benched 20kg… the blond wondered if the kid would ever have any form of pride with her around. The kid went outside afterward to practise catching away from the fucking manager's (_as she has officially been dubbed_) overly watchful eye. Shitty thing couldn't catch for to save his life. Once taught how to properly catch the ball though, he was so much more successful that the quarterback couldn't help but feel a little bit of pride.

Also amusement when the brat saw how the team was going to arrive at the game against Ojou. There was an aggravating minute or so when the kid disappeared 'to buy video tapes' and the blond set Cerberus on him, only to find out the kid had gotten changed into his gear instead of hightailing it.

Hiruma didn't even try to keep the absolute shock off his face. It would've been wasted effort. The brat was just a mess of contradictions, wasn't he? He's terrified of physical pain, yet shows up because 'it would be lame if the hero didn't show up'. He wanted to tell the fucking manager about Eyeshield 21, yet was willing to outright lie to her about what he did during games. He cried and whined and bitched about just being the secretary, yet went out to practise catching by himself. And that wasn't even accounting for the demon.

The quarterback wondered if it meant he should question his own sanity that he was naming another person's alternate personas: Shrimp and various synonyms, Eyeshield, and Demon.

Never mind that though, the match was about to begin.

Hiruma didn't know why Shin was being benched but nor did he care. This was their shot. When the quarterback turned to the kid, he wasn't talking to the shrimp part, or Eyeshield. He appealed directly to Demon. He told it that the entire stadium looked down on him, thought that Ojou had this game won before it even started. He told it to show them what he was made of.

He forgot that nobody taught the kid how to properly hold the ball. Thank Satan for the fucking fat ass. The blond nearly put a dent in the stupid brat's helmet for that manoeuvre. So he taught the brat how to do it, had already made sure the kid was wearing proper cleats, and hoped (which he'd never done or had to do) for no more fuck-ups. The team lined up and the next play began.

It would appear that the kid answered his hopes because roughly five seconds after Hiruma handed the ball off to him, the fucking shrimp scored the first touchdown of the game. Hardly a minute in and Deimon was beating Ojou six to zilch. Hiruma closed his eyes for a second, simultaneously relishing the voice of the referee (_Tachidaun!_), and silently promising the chibi a reward just for this after the game.

The Eyeshield personality developed its own voice and started explaining the finer points of _amefuto_. That's kind of weird. Too bad it couldn't stick around until the end of the try-for-point, because nobody was stupid enough to expect the Shrimp persona to score.


	5. Lucky Punch to Failure And Beginning

Okay, sorry this took longer than the others, I've set 1k words/chapter minimum for myself. So we see Shin in this one, and Hiruma starts trying to rationalize a potential attraction to Sena. Monta shows up in the next chapter.

* * *

Hiruma liked how easily the kid accepted his outrageous idea. Even Kurita had called it insane, and while the shrimp certainly didn't look too enthusiastic about the plan, he followed every step of it without question. This pleased the blond quarterback to the point that he praised the kid even though he didn't properly catch the ball.

This was made up for when the shorty seamlessly caught the blond's back pass and took off down the field. Hiruma would never get tired of watching Sena run.

He found it vaguely irritating though, when Mr. Spear Tackle stepped on the field. All of the kid's focus immediately shifted and centred fixedly on _that damned Shin Seijurou. _The blond hated watching the linebacker take down his ace player again and again _and again. _By the end of the first half, the White Knights were leading twenty points to six and the combination of pain and despair was prominent in the running back's eyes.

But then it was gone somehow. Hiruma didn't know if it was seeing the other Devil Bats as exhausted and beat up as he was, or maybe Demon was stirring under the surface and wanted payback. Either way, the brat began to run faster and faster even though he was probably ready to keel over. Unfortunately, with Shin on the field the interceptions no longer worked, nor would the freak so much as bat an eyelash at Hiruma telling him the kid was faster (_and it's the truth damn it!_), though Ootawara's reaction when compared to Kurita was absolutely hilarious.

The kid was dying out there, so Hiruma put him on the bench for defence. Obviously Deimon's defence was absolute shit, so when the ball was turned back over to Deimon's offence, there were four minutes and forty-five seconds left in the fourth quarter and Ojou had a fifty point lead.

It was officially Game Over.

Except that it wasn't. The kid didn't want to give up yet. He wasn't going to leave that field until he had made 'Shin-san' eat his dust.

Wimp-shrimp just didn't say it like that.

Possible speech impediments aside, the fucking shrimp had done what not even Kurita, or the fact that a certain Shinryuuji dread-head was watching could have done. He convinced Hiruma to continue to participate in the match they were 100% chance going to lose. The blond didn't think twice about his reaction to the resolve in the kid's voice (_at least initially_), nor did he really attempt to classify the look on his face (_eye shield was in the way, besides he had other shit to think about_). Later, he would wonder why he did it, why he gave in so easily to a mere child's demand. He may write it off as being cautious of Demon, but he would never be fully satisfied with that answer, so the thought would linger unbidden in the back of his mind.

But that came later. Right now, he was calling a huddle.

Xx121xX

The kid ran play after play, took tackle after tackle. It was a miracle he wasn't dead yet, let alone kept standing back up and running again and again. Crashing into Sakuraba didn't even phase him (_and the fuck was the receiver doing on the field anyway?!_). The tall boy gets carted off with a broken collar bone, and the wimpy kid doesn't even seem to realize a collision happened. Talk about eyes on the prize.

And what a prize it was. Hiruma had decided enough was enough with running outside; it was time to burst through head on. The fat ass pulled his weight (_or rather pushed it_) and held off both Ootawara and Shin just long enough for Sena to get a couple second head start.

Which Shin swiftly eliminated.

But that wasn't the end of it, oh no. Hiruma watched as Shin extended his arm and waited for the scene to play out like it had since the first quarter. But it didn't. Hiruma got the chills just before it happened. Chills that tickled his neck and shoulders every time he saw the miniscule realignment of the kid's shoulders, the twitch of his back straightening, and the sudden firmness in his step.

Demon was fed up. Demon _was not_ going to go down like the shrimp had repeatedly. Demon _was not _going run away squealing for mommy. Demon _was not _going to let the adversary get away with this. Demon _was definitely_ leaving Shin in the dust and scoring a touchdown just because he could.

Then the shrimp collapsed.

The blond knelt next to him, staving of concerned players as the fucking manager pulled out the first aid kit, but the kid was fine. He had finally reached his limit though and the fat ass had to carry him off the gridiron. The quarterback didn't need to see the smile on the brat's face to know it was beautiful.

_A guy's smile can, in fact, be described as beautiful! Fucking deal with it!_

No, the blond was not defending anything in his own mind, why would you ask that? If it just so happened that a boy he knew had some feminine facial features (_big, expressive eyes; small, pert nose; soft looking cheeks; lips pink from being bitten nervously_), then why shouldn't he use an adjective with a feminine connotation? It was perfectly legitimate to call a smile beautiful no matter what gender the person smiling was.

Hiruma's mind carried on that track until he heard the kid slip up addressing the fucking manager (_why does he call her nee-chan anyway?_). Luckily, or not so depending on your point of view, Anezaki's view of Sena was so firmly set as weak and pathetic she didn't even to begin to connect the dots.

Prejudices can be _really_ harsh.

As predicted, Deimon lost. The Spring Tournament was over for them and the fat ass cried like it was the end of the fucking world.

Did anyone tell the kid about the Fall Tournament?


	6. to No80 Catching Expert

I said I would introduce Monta here and I have... just not by name. On another note, I can feel myself slowing down, but fear not. I will not be one of those authors who starts following the canon and then stops post Spring Tournament. Seriously, I can only thingk of three that have gotten past that block. And, because they are awesome, I will list them here, look them up: Sena's Life by Kuraihikaru which is somewhere on the Death March, See The Big World by smiles55fofo, and Play Date by... by... _Shit! They've persevered all the way up to the beginning of the Shinryuuji match and I can't remember who wrote this? RAGE! _But yeah, check them out, they're great.

* * *

The fucking old man took his sweet ass time getting out here to redo the clubhouse. The victory against Koigahama was two fucking weeks ago. Tch. He didn't seem at all surprised when Hiruma called him to do the job, he didn't bother asking who would pay for it until it had already begun, he didn't even blink when he was told the principal was covering the cost.

Hadn't so much as said hello to each other in months, and Musashi _still_ known him too damn well. Fucker.

But if there was one thing that the blond was a little bit grateful for, it was that the fucking manager didn't make a big deal out of the old man being there. She barely even greeted him. This pleased the quarterback for two reasons: the first being that he knew that the old man didn't like reminders of the old days and the second being that, if the brat found out who Musashi was, he might make a fuss and accidentally reopen old wounds.

But Anezaki was discreet about it all so nothing happened. The kid seemed to be in some pain, but that would wear off soon enough. Hiruma gave the kid the pictures to organize and told him to separate the Sakuraba ones from the useful ones by the end of the day.

…

School was over, where the fuck was he? Slower than the fat ass on the forty, this kid. It was almost funny, how he thought he could be team manger when it took him all day to do something stupid like sort pictures.

Well, the blond and the fat ass were already on their to the brat's classroom to use the TV, might as well hurry him up.

What the fuck was he crying about? Granted, he stopped as soon as Hiruma barged through the door, but the signs were still there. Whatever it was though, the kid seemed determined to hide it, asking about the TV and why only this classroom had one.

"_This was our classroom last year._" Enough said.

Remembering what had occurred to him just after the game yesterday, the blond made a comment about preparing for the Christmas Bowl, you guessed it, the brat had no idea that another tournament was coming up. The kid appeared to remember and realize something (_probably something that damned Shin said_) and shortly finished with the photos and left. But as the blond glanced out the window, he noticed the shrimp out in the rain running drills. He fell repeatedly, was probably soaked to the bone and covered in mud, but he kept getting back up, again and again and again.

Hiruma changed his mind. It wasn't just his running. The kid in general was a thing of beauty.

After the blond and the fat ass finished their work and Hiruma was about to head out, the quarterback took out a small box from where he'd hidden it on his person (_that little place he keeps all his guns, the everybody thinks is a fourth dimensional pocket_). After checking to see that the lineman wouldn't be coming back for any reason, the blond hastily wrote a note on a scrap of paper, taped it to the box, and shoved it in the kid's desk.

_The gloves you've been using are second hand and crappy quality, so I got you these. DON'T FUCKING WASTE THEM! _

_Congrats on beating Shin. _

Xx121xX

The kid seemed impressed with the new clubhouse (_impressed, freaked out, same thing_) and Hiruma was pleased that the kid had borrowed a ball to practise with. He was taking his position as running back seriously. Soon the four Devil Bats were off recruiting. The blond figured all the other useless clubs had enough members to carry on whatever the fuck they did, so he just tore down any other posters as he saw fit. They had a Christmas Bowl to win.

As he methodically tore down and pinned up posters, the blond thought back on the shorty with potential for multiple personality disorder. He had seemed to have an idea when the necessity of a receiver was mentioned but shrunk back into himself when said receiver's height was brought up. Maybe the kid was debating on inviting a new recruit? Hiruma would have to ask him later about who he had in mind and just how short they were. Depending on that vs. catching ability, it may not matter if they're below a certain height.

He wondered if the kid found his new gloves yet. Did he like them? _He better fucking appreciate them! Does he know how rare it is for someone to get a present from Hiruma fucking Yoichi? Pretty fucking rare! _

The blond needed to think about something else now. Something like how easy it was to incite Demon at the Ojou game. Hiruma figured being told it was being looked down on was a tad risky at the time. He may have gone berserk on the crowd instead of in the game. But it didn't, it knew that to prove it wasn't worthless to these people it had to play by their rules.

They wanted a show, it gave them a show.

Demon also seemed to recognize Shin. Whether as a rival, or a form of measuring stick, or just another plain source of aggravation, Hiruma wasn't yet sure. But he would find out. Right now though, he was out of posters.

Posters up, work was done, now they were just waiting for the game on TV to start. The kid was so distracted that he didn't react to anything until the blond started shooting at him (_and where did the fucking manager get a bullet proof notebook?_). The look on his face when he saw what the quarterback had done for Eyeshield's image was _fucking hilarious. _Hiruma would be laughing about that face for years.

The kid was completely out of it the next day too. But, after asking if _amefuto_ was a specialized sport and if extra height on a receiver was mandatory, he appeared to come to a decision of some sort. Too bad because Hiruma had planned to make him run like a bat out of Hell today.

Was it solely because the kid had goofed up with the posters? No. The quarterback wanted the kid to build up stamina at his max speed because if he kept fainting every time he did 4.2 for the forty, he was going to get killed.

That finished, it was time to hunt for receivers.

He next came upon Sena by the shoe lockers (_suspiciously dog-less_) talking to some monkey with no seat to his pants. Remembering the brat earlier question about receivers and height, the blond pitched a ball at the monkey. Who caught it. _With one fucking hand. _

_Hellooo receiver. _


	7. to Hell Tower

Hello again, first things first: Thank you kindly to Chibi-Kaisie, hopefully my muse is endless, and for reminding me that that Play Date was written by F.A. Star Hawk. So kudos to you F.A. Star Hawk and please update soon, I'm enjoying that story. As well as Kuraihikaru themself, you're very welcome for the compliment and thank you for yours in turn. It would be lovely to hear from you again should you continue to read :D Finally, school has started again so updates will be slower. BUT THEY WILL STILL BE! Okay enough of me.

* * *

Having bound, gagged, and caged the monkey Hiruma carted him off to the clubhouse. Kurita was quiet, probably caught between wanting another teammate (_and a fucking amazing receiver!_) and wanting to be kind to the boy. The brat was conversely keeping up a stream of chatter, not so much trying to persuade the blond to letting the monkey go, so much as apologizing to the monkey. There were a lot of _I would've warned you_s and _You get used to him_s and even a _I wanted you to join willingly, but I don't think you're going to have much choice anymore. _ So the kid really had been recruiting. The quarterback wondered if he should get another reward for noticing such a catch (_fucking puns_).

Fuck it all, Hiruma had forgotten about Anezaki's dislike for him and his methods.

"_He's Rai Montarou." _Monta then, the blond would have to look him up later, the name wasn't ringing any bells.

Not that it mattered; he was dumber than a rock. It was blatantly obvious that the monkey liked Anezaki (_not that she noticed, of course. Seriously did she walk around in a blindfold or something?_) and it was all too easy to feed him a pack of lies about the fucking manager and Eyeshield 21 (_and the blond knows that the shrimp is despairing over his new reputation as a jack ass as he hides in the bushes_).

So the monkey asked for a night to think it over, and sure enough the next morning he was wearing the jersey with the number 80. But that wasn't nearly as important as the look on Sena's face, after the monkey left and he stopped hiding. The blush, the averted eyes, the quavering little smile, Hiruma cursed his lack of camera.

"_Thank you, Hiruma-san… f-for the gloves, I mean. I'll definitely put them to good use!"_

The quarterback smirked and brushed it off like it was nothing and happened all the time, but inside he couldn't completely suppress the relief he felt that the kid had liked his present.

The next day was spent in the weight room. The kid's neck needed to be toughened up some more (_how the fuck had he not broken it under Shin's tackles?_) but what really pissed the blond off was that Ojou was breaking down. They had only beaten the Sankaku Punks by a single, measly point when it should have been a slaughter show, thus losing the Devil Bats their advantage in recruiting. _Fuck it all!_

He effectively calmed himself back down when given the task of setting up a home game. He wanted some more slaves and the idiots down at Zokuto Gakuen, were both physically able and had their own transportation.

Translation: The Zokugaku biker gangs were easy to manipulate.

He sent the brats on an errand as he set it all up. The blond called out Habashira Rui, captain and linebacker of the Zokuto Chameleons, and then just went to town. He absolutely loved riling people up. Though why the shorty felt the need to defend Shin from the fucking chameleon was beyond him.

However, when push came to shove Sena wasn't going to be defended by Anezaki. As the brat issued his challenge Hiruma wondered why Habashira wasn't running screaming for the hills. The blond could see Demon stirring in those too-big eyes from back at the clubhouse.

Xx121xX

Delivering the death penalty to Rice-kun was great fun. Even the fucking manager participated (_fucking wish she wouldn't use the flamethrower, the mess'll be a bitch to clean up later_). She quickly reverted back into Mother Mamori when they decided to have a mock practice game. This was easily rectified by bringing Eyeshield 21 on the field.

It was even more fun tricking the kid into giving the middle finger for a photo shoot. Turning Eyeshield into a complete badass greatly entertained him. It also served as a subconscious hint to the shorty. The more he saw his alter ego as someone less than kind, the more likely it was that his Demon and Eyeshield personas would merge together. It would be hard enough for the brat to absorb one personality let alone two.

The next day was game day (_and with five million yen riding on this, of course victory was assured!_). Hiruma noticed with no small amount of glee that the kid was wearing his new gloves. But there was no time to comment on that now, it was game time (_and how did the fucking fat ass find three potential linemen? Especially those three idiots in particular?_).

As predicted, Deimon won, 46 – 28, mostly through the use of the fucking monkey and trick plays. The fucking Huh brothers (_don't give a flying fuck what they say, you can't speak in near unison like that and not be _somehow_ related_) had to be polished up a bit, but they certainly had potential. The few times Eyeshield 21 showed down against Habashira were greatly entertaining. The first time the chameleon got beat, Hiruma recognized the flash of fear that crossed the linebacker's face and instantly knew two things: that Habashira finally noticed Demon and that this game was won.

Now, let's see if the recruiting thing worked.

Monday after school was the entrance meeting, vast improvement from last year. The fat ass once again bought a stupid amount of cream puffs (_who wants to bet that the fucking manager eats most of them? Kekeke…_) and then fell asleep for half the time.

Most of idiots who came out were complete losers who weren't worth the dirt in the blond's cleat, but there was some potential, like that Komusubi Daikichi, even though he couldn't even speak a full sentence. Even the second year, Yukimitsu Manabu (_he's fucking BALD! What is this?!_) showed an interesting amount of tenacity despite his physique (_or lack thereof_). An entrance trial had been taking shape in his mind for some time and what he had now officially dubbed _Hell's Tower_ was going to be _so much fun!_


	8. to Knights VS Gunmen

Hey all, I'm back. Honorable mentions to my beloved reveiwers: Chibi-Kaise, here's Hell Tower for you! Hope you like it. Mizu No Fukushuu, thank you for pointing that out. I'm going to leave it until I finish the fic but now I know to keep an eye out. Afterward I'll revamp the whole thing. AnnaSteyn, I'm glad you like it and that last line was in fact a stroke of creative genius if I do say so myself :P

Okay now, something I've noticed is that I'm having trouble getting into the actual relationship part of the story, so you'll have to forgive me on the lack of yaoi-ness front. I am working on it though so don't worry. On another note, I've realized that I won't be able to incorporate the scene from _Payback_ into _Taming The Demon _as is because it comes from the anime when I'm following the manga now. Sorry guys. Moving on...

* * *

Silly little brats thought they were just running up the school stairs. Their complete underestimation of his skills made Hiruma cackle. The lesser wimps turned tail and ran at the mere sight of the Tokyo Tower, and the blond made sure the rest that stayed sweltered in front of the tower long enough to drive off a few more.

It was hot enough to fry eggs on the concrete and boil your brains in your skull. It was a lovely day in Hiruma's opinion. After checking on Anezaki and the ice cubes, the blond rallied the wannabes and explained the rules. Get the ice to the special observatory right at the very top before it melts. Easy, right?

Too bad the Devil of Deimon left out some key obstacles in the course. For example, just before the grand observatory, Hell's Watchdog picked up the scent of the sugar in the ice. It was entertaining as Hell watching the mutt chase the kid and the monkey after chewing on a couple nameless moving bodies.

After that there was the observatory itself. Officially entitled Hell's Pot of Boiling Oil, the temperature had been ratcheted up to almost dangerous levels. The receiver and running back went back down for more ice while a few other contestants merely collapsed in exhaustion at the door.

Hiruma's personal favourite was Hell's Watchman (_and if you can't figure out why, you're fucking stupid, kekeke!_). He took extra pleasure in shooting at the little fuck that reminded him of Agon and stole ice off the other contestants.

At the end of the day, the kid took first place, the monkey close second (_despite having to run all the way back down for more ice, the idiot_). The miniature fat ass followed, tailed by the three brothers, all three of which seemed really aggravated by something and confused as to why they were there in the first place. Anezaki came up shortly, explaining that the rest had all gone home before the fucking baldy fell through the door.

Now, you have to understand; Hiruma wasn't pitying the second year when he did what did. He wasn't just being nice (_because Hiruma Yoichi does NOT do nice_) either. The blond saw a tenacity in the boy that was worth bending the rules for. That tenacity was undying in the face of pain, of physical suffering, and of emotional upset. It did not waver, it did not give, it did not back down.

It mirrored Hiruma's own will to win.

So the quarterback cheated and let the half dead teenager join the team. They'd seriously have to work on that (_incredible lack of_) stamina though.

As everyone started piling into the elevators, somehow Hiruma and Sena wound up splitting one between them. The brat was fidgeting which meant he had something to say.

"_Um… In Yukimitsu-san's bag… I-I was standing really close and, um… the, uh, the ice cube wasn't, um, there weren't, I mean-"_

The blond snickered at the kid's stuttering and asked what he was going to do about it. The kid shook his head and stumbled over his words as he tried to explain that _of course he didn't mean it like that _and _he just thought it was nice of Hiruma-san _but _of course Hiruma-san probably had a far more legitimate reason_ and so on and so forth.

The quarterback just laughed and commented that the kid was finally getting it.

Xx121xX

The next morning was first team practice and Hiruma taught his little pet project some black magic. The brat didn't seem all that surprised when the three brothers turned up to participate at just the mention of 'photos'.

After that it was easy. Put the brothers and the mini fat ass in the same room together, and they take care of each other. The baldy had a long way to go, but he would get there. Everything would be fine. They had a Christmas Bowl to win.

After practice the fat ass brought up the upcoming Spring Tournament finals. Shinryuuji had dominated Kanagawa as usual and the TokyoCity finals were about to begin: Ojou White Knights vs. Seibu Wild Gunmen. The kid and the monkey wanted to watch so the blond called his new Zokugaku slaves for a ride.

They arrived during half time (_and Zokugaku bolted immediately to avoid the cops they had accumulated_) to find Ojou was falling to pieces. The score was 20-7 and Seibu was leading.

What really kind of ticked Hiruma off was that the Seibu quarterback, The Kid (_seriously? Just take your mother's surname and be done with it. You don't need an alias_) had the nerve to be upset about the score. Pessimism is one thing, but can't the dude accept something may go right for him for once in his life? Fuck…

The blond was also pretty sure that he was showing off Tetsuma's skill as a receiver when he threw that water bottle. Deciding to play along, he brought the large receiver's stats on his laptop. Then, the blond quarterback proceeded to teach the newbies about pass routes.

To anyone who hadn't figured it out already, Hiruma brought the team to the game to teach them about the effectiveness of the 'Shotgun' strategy and the use of multiple receivers. He additionally needed the new linemen to get a glimpse at their job (_the game against Zokuto doesn't count for the brothers; it was all pretty much brawling_).

Tetsuma had to leave the game for some reason and Ojou made its counterattack. The White Knights would move forward to face the Shinryuuji Nagas.

As the Devil Bats were about to head home, Sena asked if maybe they should head back on foot for afternoon practice. Hiruma quickly latched onto this idea and the team ran pass routes their whole way back. But as he yelled out route names and curse words (_Slant! Square Out! Hitch! Wrong way fucking monkey!_) the blond watched his running back. The kid was running and grinning and dodging bullets just like everybody else, but when he met Hiruma's gaze, he smiled even brighter, so happy just because his idea had been accepted by The Team Leader.

The notion that it was Hiruma who managed to put that smile there filled the blond's body with something light.


	9. to The King That Challenges God

Yosh, I've returned. Sorry it's been a while, there've been a lot of funerals to go to recently. To those of you who are still crying _WHERE IS THE YAOI?! D': _fear not, I've figured out how I'm going to do this. You will definitely be seeing more of it come the next two to four chapters. Beyond that I have nothing new to say. So read on my lovelies, read and enjoy.

* * *

It was time to build a new change room. It had been almost a week since the Zokuto victory and Takekura Construction had taken over. Hiruma had the team participate in the construction on top of regular practice. At first, it seemed the actual builders didn't really notice, but the blond saw the old man kick around the brothers when they started slacking off.

Musashi was being irritatingly roundabout when he was usually so direct, but he was still proving that he gave a shit about the team.

Well, if Musashi was going to be roundabout, then so was Hiruma. They both heard the complaining going on.

While it was obvious that the team all heard the exchange about firm foundations between the two second years (_because that's what Musashi _is,_ regardless of his face_), only the kid turned around. The blond met his eyes and understood that the kid knew that it wasn't just a casual conversation. The brat went back to his work and Hiruma to his, and the blond wondered when the kid grew to understand him so easily.

After practice, Musashi confessed that his father was still hospitalized, which apparently reminded the chibi that he had wanted to visit Sakuraba Haruto and apologize for breaking his collarbone.

It kind of aggravated Hiruma that the kid worried so much about this one crappy player. Sakuraba Haruto may have had average athleticism and decent height, but there was absolutely zero determination, dead spirit where there should be fire.

In short: _The stupid wannabe gave up too damn easily! _

However, the blond knew that the kid would bitch about it later if he wasn't allowed to go and then the fucking manager would ask for (_demand_) an explanation that Hiruma wasn't quite sure he could give. He didn't really know why it aggravated him so much, it just _did. _

So the brat visited the hospital (_and came back scared out of his wits… What the fuck happened?_), and training carried on and soon the new change rooms were finished.

_The fucking monkey has been on this team for how long, and he's just now correcting his name!? Fuck that! Raimon Tarou, Rai Montarou, it's all written with the same characters! He's been Monta all this time, that's the way it's going to stay. _

For anyone who cares, Joe Montana was a quarterback, not a receiver, and there was never any mention of 'Montana Magic' during his career. Just don't the monkey that. _Kekeke_

That aside, Hiruma didn't appreciate the reaction to his stating that he had applied the Deimon Devil Bats to face the American team in two weeks. One would think that the fat ass (_at least_) would have seen that coming.

The _ping _of new mail from the blond's laptop drew the attention of the more curious players and Sena finally stopped staring at the locker next to _Eyeshield-san_'s (_It was pure coincidence that Sena and Hiruma's lockers were right next to each other! It was! Okay, the bond meddled a bit, but he needed to keep an eye on Demon. Really, that's it!_).

So, the Taiyou Sphinx were chosen, hm? Of course they were; the quarterback knew they would be. So without an ounce of regret, the second year set up an interview with _Monthly Amefuto_ for the enigmatic Eyeshield 21.

The kid was relatively obedient throughout the whole infiltration process and was smart enough to send pictures of the screen to Hiruma when he didn't understand what was going on, which the blond appreciated. In no time at all, Deimon was sitting in the magazine's management department discussing emails that had been sent to both the school and the American team stating that the Devil Bats were to be the representatives of Japan.

The Taiyou team was also present and objecting. So the devious quarterback challenged them to a match and, of course, they accepted.

Over the following few days, Hiruma and Kurita spent a lot of time at the magazine finalizing details and it seemed that there had been some trouble with the fucking brothers. But everything smoothed itself over without the blond having to lift a finger, so he deemed them capable enough to go train with Zokugaku. The brat's bench press ratcheted up from 10kg to 40kg which, while not all that impressive, he seemed to take great pride in when telling his captain. Something in said captain wouldn't allow the kid to be shot down and instead gave Sena one of Hiruma's more human grins.

The heat on game day was brutal; even Hiruma felt just a tad uncomfortable. It seemed that both the elements and the crowd were going to be against them. The kid took one look at the Kanagawa linemen and you could practically hear his knees knocking together. The fucking monkey dropping the Banba model on the Eyeshield model (_effectively crushing it to pieces_) did not help in the slightest.

Although, he did make his first tackle ever that opening play. The blond contemplated giving the boy another small prize. He liked recording the kid's milestones that way: first tackle, first touchdown (_Koigahama didn't count because they were shit and Sena only played for the last two minutes_). The quarterback decided to wait until after the game to analyze why he was so hung up on celebrating the kid's firsts. As of this moment, his line was falling apart, Kurita was in tears, and it was only the second play.

A couple rousing words and some bullshitting got the line back together, but the crowd was still a problem. They couldn't make fun of Sena or the back team, but they were really laying it on thick on the three brothers. The blond watched as the kid held Monta back from giving them a piece of his mind, but it was obvious that the taunting was bothering him considerably. The audience needed to shut up fast or Demon was going to have a bloodbath.

Hiruma gave the kid a trick play just to keep him occupied although he probably would've been more successful just letting the kid run given the monkey's fuck up.

During the play where Harao (_who the fuck uses third person omniscient? The word is 'I' not 'One'_) fumbled the ball and the kid grabbed it, the blond fully expected him to run out of bounds to avoid getting pummelled by the gigantic baldy. Much to everyone's surprise, the kid faced the lineman head on and gained an extra yard.

The boy would later admit to his captain that a voice in his head told him that Notre Dame heroes don't run from challenges and that was why he didn't run out. Poor kid was becoming aware of his multiple personalities. Who knew what would happen if he discovered Demon.

Deimon was only behind by one point at half time, but after that the monkey started having trouble dealing with a new cornerback. What was with this team and needing constant encouragement? So what if the monkey gets knocked off balance for a second he just needs to get his ass up and running that much faster, the moron.

When the receiver finally caught a pass and put the score at 20-18 for Taiyou, the quarterback knew that, once again, it was going to be Sena who makes or breaks it for Deimon. They needed to score a touchdown for the try-for-point, or they would lose. Given the kid's erratic track record with fighting head on and the blond's idea for getting through, Hiruma wouldn't bet on the kid being able to do this on his own.

He needed Demon.

So he said two things to the running back: the first was not to run to the side like a coward, and the second being a really cryptic way of saying 'go straight'.

Implying that the kid was frightened incited Demon's anger and the semi riddle used Eyeshield's brains. It was the combination of the two that perfected the move Hiruma first saw back in April from a kid running from bullies. It was that combination that gave birth to the mother of all running back techniques: The Devil Bat Dive.

_Yes, the boy deserves another present._


	10. to Black Panther

Hey all, I'm back again with the next chapter. We begin to get into the yaoiness here, I hope you like it. To Glajo, I'm glad you love my fic, I do too :P it's good to hear that Hiruma is still in character, keeping him there can be quite difficult. Now, because of the recent crack-downs on internet plaigarism, it's beginning to look like disclaimers are becoming mandatory. MY response is this: If we thought we owned the characters/settings/canon plots/etc. _why would we be posting it on a __FAN__ FICTION SITE? _Enough said.

* * *

The kid twisted his shoulder upon landing which immediately set off some weird alarm in the blond's head (_He's hurt! He's hurt!_) and made him limit the number of times the kid could use the new move in a game. The blond _really _did not like seeing the kid in pain. He was debating how to properly bandage the kid without the fucking manager noticing anything when Banba walked over. In his eyes, the fact that Deimon had forced a tie under such disadvantageous circumstances was absolutely amazing. As a result, the Taiyou team would forfeit the right to play the Americans.

Icing on the cake in Hiruma's opinion.

After some celebratory yelling through a megaphone, the blond sent Anezaki off to refill water bottles and dragged Sena off behind the change rooms. The brat's face turned a few shades of red upon the demand to strip, but he complied without a word of protest (_interesting_). As the older athlete bandaged the kid's shoulder, talking him through it step by step so he could do it himself, the blond noticed a slightly dazed look in those too-big eyes. He snapped at the boy for not paying attention and the brat blushed again as he stumbled over an apology.

_"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It's just, um… I-I, well, I like your hands, Hiruma-san. They're bigger than mine, but not as much in a fist, you know? And they're gentle. So it's nice."_

The boy smiled shyly at his upperclassman and thanked him for the bandaging. Said upperclassman smirked back and told the kid to put his shirt back on. It was time to go to Enoshima.

The blond got a serious kick out of the fact that the fucking manager actually made a picture story show to explain the history of Shinryuuji to Sena and the others (_on one hand, she'd make a great kindergarten teacher, on the other, HE'S SIXTEEN FOR FUCK'S SAKE!_). It was even funnier when she chastised Sena for calling her on her less than perfect drawings.

Shortly after, Hiruma made the kid go change into Eyeshield 21 to capitalize on the many reporters hanging around. Failure on that front was foretold by Anezaki's decision to join him for whatever reason. Such a fact did not stop the blond's raging at him for not getting changed.

The blond only let up after he saw that something happened in the time he was gone that had triggered Demon, and Demon was still awake.

So he made a tactical retreat and changed the subject to the cornerback Hosokawa Ikkyuu. The most interesting thing they heard that day though had to be the name of Ojou's new battle strategy: The Ballista.

The White Knights didn't use it for some reason and Shinryuuji won that day. Hiruma would never admit it to anybody, but he held a lot of respect for Kongo Unsui. They were similar in many ways: average physique, fast and adaptable thinkers, and undying determination to win. On top of that, the bald quarterback had to deal with the fucking dreads 27/7 since birth. If anything got you Hiruma Yoichi's respect, it was that.

Speaking of the fucking dreads, he just pitched a football at a kid in a wheelchair. Isn't that typical? The blond alternated between wondering how they had ever really worked together and debating whether or not Hiruma himself had been Agon outlet for violence. Hopefully yes because then he'd have been less likely to beat on children (_Hiruma was a foul person but even _he_ had limits_).

Saving the smaller boy apparently dispelled whatever was keeping Demon at the surface, so the running back was now safe to intimidate again. Additionally, it appeared that the monkey caught the attention of Ikkyuu. That would become quite the rivalry, anyone could see.

But that was for the Fall Tournament. The most important thing to think about now was the game against the Americans tomorrow.

Or not, because the coach of the NASA Aliens was a racist son of a bitch (AN/ He really is. When Apollo was first introduced, I felt embarrassed to be the same skin tone as him). What the idiotic Coach Apollo did not understand was that one did not simply blow off the Devil Bats. _Kekeke _

_It's movie time!_

By the time Hiruma was done, not only had Apollo agreed to play them the following month, but had also declared that the NASA Aliens would not return to America if they did not win by at least ten points. The blond graciously accepted the bet by saying in turn that if the Devil Bats did not win by at least ten points, then they would leave Japan.

Such a deal proved to be quite an incentive to practise. The fucking brothers came out repeatedly without being called, the baldy ran laps until two in the morning, even the kid kept trying to ward off Anezaki's mothering (_with limited success. He trips backwards and she decorates his head in band-aids. What the fuck?_). It was decided that each of the three brothers would get his own locker.

But why, oh why, did the fucking manager have to pick up that kick tee? It's Musashi's property, if she'd looked, she'd have seen that it was in his locker. Fuck it all, now the kids were asking questions that Hiruma did not want to answer. The visit from Bando's Sasaki Kotarou just rubbed salt on the wound because now the kids were _really _curious (_of course they were. Anyone would be curious about an upperclassman called 'The 60-Yard Magnum_). The blond knew that they may go looking for Musashi (_not that they'd ever find him, even as he built a new kennel for Cerberus after the Taiyou tie_), but what Hiruma did not know was that the whole time Sena was searching through scrapbooks and student records he was thinking about his captain smiling at him for getting back an old teammate.

Of course, the blond never counted on Musashi coming out and admitting who he was. But he did, so there no point dwelling on it.

It was time to teach the team about defence. The quarterback had a feeling that when Sena was introduced to Panther it would be a repeat of when he met Shin. Sure enough, the kid's eyes zeroed in on the dark skinned ball boy on the screen and stayed there.

Hiruma felt that same irritation as the day of the Ojou game and this time he was starting to figure out why. He _found_ the kid therefore he should have a monopoly on the kid's attention. He knew and made himself known to sides of the boy that Sena didn't even know were there. He could read the boy like a child's book and devoted more than half of his energy towards the brat's handling. He was gentler than normal and put up with regular hassles (_coughAnezakicough_) for the kid.

Shin couldn't put that kind of claim on the running back, nor could Panther, or even Anezaki despite knowing Sena the longest. Sena belonged to Hiruma. This was a fact.

_And there was nothing anybody could do about it. _


	11. to Doburoku The Trainer

I'm back once again. To cover my bases here: Mari92, I thank you for your input but I did all of that on purpose, even the run-on sentences. It was for dramatic effect. shanagi95, I'm glad you're liking it, here's more of Demon for you. devil4y, I figured that Hiruma would have that possessive streak in him, but, yeah it's stupid fun to write :P Ok, let's get on with the show.

* * *

If there was one thing about Kobayakawa Sena's personality that Hiruma would never _ever_ get tired of, it was his complete obedience. It wasn't two seconds after the kid admitted to being thankful that he didn't have to tackle the Aliens' quarterback, Homer, that the blond taught him the blitz. And so the running back turned right back around and started practising tackling large, man-shaped targets.

Although, it made him feel strangely ill at ease when the boy agreed to sleep over at Kurita's place so they could come to practice earlier in the morning. This was ridiculous for a myriad of reasons: first, it's _Kurita._ The guy was raised by _monks_ and lived in a _Buddhist temple._ He didn't have a deceptive bone in his body and couldn't even begin to imagine turning on Hiruma in any way. Secondly, the mini fat ass had been staying there for weeks and nothing bad has happened to him. Finally, the monkey is going too and he and the kid have always had each others' backs (_except when it comes to Hiruma; Sena will perpetually, unfailingly, side with Hiruma_). Nevertheless, the blond knew he would stay uncomfortable until he saw the brunette next.

Which would turn out to be the next morning when the kid called him, hysterical, hung over, and hanging from a tree in the _lion's den at the local zoo!_

Hiruma's intuition was right. Of course it was. _Shit. _

So the quarterback went to the kid's rescue, got him down from the tree and out of the pit, watched quietly as he puked in a trash can, and bought him some painkillers and a bottle of water. He made sure to yell at the kid and constantly reiterate that this would not excuse him from practice, just to make sure no one who may have been around thought he was going soft.

_Note to self: The kid stared for 0.8 seconds longer than normal at a pair of extra lightweight cleats in an athletic wear department window display._

Musashi stopped by to mention that he had a bet going with the kids: beat the American team and he'll come back. The blond laughed, saying that even if the Americans won, the fucking old man would come back on his own anyway.

Kid got the cleats at the exact length of time before the game to properly break them in and still have them at peak condition to compete in. Hiruma had calculated the brat's practice time in exact microseconds. The shorty's face had lit up a tree at Christmas when he opened the box and the blond had that light feeling again.

After that, Hiruma advertised almost like never before. Come game day, the stands were bursting with Japanese spectators. This time the crowd was on the Devil Bats' side (_less likely Demon would lose it_). The devilish quarterback quite enjoyed making use of his extensive list of English synonyms for 'penis' and yes, he was completely sure that his was bigger than Apollo's, nationality be damned. Sena took first blitz.

It failed. Even when Komusubi or Juumonji got Homer it failed. It continued to fail until the Eyeshield part of Sena started shining through. He had figured out a way to attack Homer at his weak point and he asked if he could try. Hiruma grinned and dared him to.

And so, the Japanese representatives were put on the board, but more importantly, the Japanese quarterback was reminded that Sena's greatest asset wasn't his legs; it was Demon. Everybody and their mother recognized the brat's change-of-pace talent, but it wasn't really _Sena_ doing it. _Sena _got scared, slowed down, stopped moving; _Demon_ got pissed, stepped up took off. Demon understood that he couldn't play by his own rules here. Demon also understood that it would hurt the enemy a lot worse if they got beaten at their own game.

Demon wanted Panther to play. Fuck.

Even throwing him behind the sweep manoeuvre didn't shift his focus from the lithe American. If anything, his resolve hardened with each touchdown scored. Hiruma watched the kid's face flicker between his default and rage personalities as every eye turned to the American team kneeling before their coach.

Panther started putting a uniform on. Double fuck.

During the last minute, Japan was down by seven points and Panther was racing up the field with the ball. Hiruma could tell from the chills running up and down his spine that Demon, playing safety now, had had just about enough of being beaten by this guy. The only problem was grabbing the ball back from him. After that, it would be stealing-candy-from-a-sleeping-infant-with-a-blind-deaf-mother easy to score another touchdown. Luckily enough, the kid noticed that Panther was incredibly sloppy with holding the ball. Poor Panther didn't even see it coming when Demon ripped the ball out of his hands and turned around, bolting back down the field.

The kid got them to only one point behind but that was it for him. The Devil Bat captain rounded up the rest of his team for the two-point-conversion but ultimately, the team fell when the kid did.

The Japanese quarterback was irritated that they lost, but didn't dwell on it for too long. The important thing now was to start getting things together for the Devil Bats' trip to America.

*_sigh_* America, the land of _legalized firearms!_

The blond knew he and the gun shopkeeper would get along famously (_especially since the man had no qualms with the subject of smuggling_), even if he was a tad nervous about putting a loaded gun in Sena's hands (_it was alright though, his skinny little arms couldn't handle the recoil for him to aim properly_). There was also much fun involved, shooting the target through the gaps of arms of a couple idiot Americans. He was going to keep that gun just to cackle over. The best part was, after watching Seibu's Kid shoot, Hiruma was now 100% certain of the other quarterback's identity.

Useless shitty brats couldn't even do short passes properly. Tch, whatever. 100000 yen in club funds was practically in their grasp and fuck if the blond was going to let it slip through their fingers. So he disposed of Sena's little guardian angel and took her place.

Too Tattoo (_what the fuck kind of name was that? Seriously Doburoku, you may be drunk most of the time, but even you aren't that bad_) didn't even know what hit them.

Speaking of the alcoholic coach, he finally woke up to see two thirds of the Maoh Trio before him. After introducing himself to the team (_as a lazy bum and complete pervert_) he offered to give the Seibu coach, quarterback, receiver, and cow a ride out to their ranch in his big rig. Seibu agreed and offered in return a place to stay for the homeless Deimon.

The barbeque at Ben Ranch was an excellent feast, though it did include some less than wonderful activities, such as Doburoku taking a swing at the blond, forcing said teen to block it with a pumpkin (_which was hilarious_), over Musashi (_and the fucking first born Huh brother kept staring at the kid_). But the most interesting part of the night was what came after. Hiruma had noticed the kid getting bullied by a cow (_a fucking cow_), was aware that the kid had been chased into the large rodeo pen near the campfire. But it wasn't until much later that he realized that there hadn't been a peep from either of them after that. Most of the team had gone to bed already, and anyone left out was either falling asleep in their seats (_Anezaki waiting for Sena_) or too drunk to understand what was going on around them (_Doburoku and the Seibu coach_).

This was incredibly convenient because when Sena came out of the shadows again, it wasn't actually Sena anymore.

Demon's eyes focused on the blond (_said blond being the only conceivable threat in the vicinity_) and gestured him forward as he slunk around the corner of the barn. It was extremely unusual behaviour for an extremely unpredictable kid. So Hiruma gripped his new M16 a little tighter and followed the smaller boy.

Upon rounding the corner, the taller teenager stopped, seeing those too-big eyes shining at him like an animal's. He asked the kid what he needed.

"_You are a great aggravation to us, yet you are indispensable to our survival." _Hiruma completely froze upon hearing the voice that was Sena's but _not,_ and the realization that this was the first time Demon had ever spoken in his presence, maybe at all. "_We have flourished under your care, but are held back by your chains. We are all Sena but we are bound to the wishes of The Original; he will not speak out against you. We are entirely yours to control. I alone cannot accept this." _The blond could feel himself break out into a cold sweat, but was still determined not to show any weakness. "_If we must be yours, then you must be ours to the same degree."_

For a split second, Hiruma lost his focus as he wondered at the implications of that statement. But a split second was too long, and the quarterback found himself lying in the grass, hands bound in tight little grips on either side of his face, his gun lost in the dark, and the kid's mouth roughly slanted over his own.


	12. to Advance! Devil Bat Troops!

Phew, I'm alive. Okay, to get the ball rolling: shangi95, not quite a lemon but some action, and this chapter should also answer your questions. Manderskoinu, I'm glad you like it. Please be patient with me :p luthinuvielle, to answer your question, the Eyeshield persona was sort of around before hand, but it was so weak, it didn't really register. It essentially owes its existance to Hiruma. Angel Fantasy, I must say that hadn't even occured to me. But then you said it and I'm thinking that would be really interesting, so I sort of incorporated it. devil4y, it's good to hear from you again, I hope Hiruma's reaction entertains you. clippit, you asked for more, so here's more :) This one is about twice the length of the others, which is why it took longer, because when I hit 1000 words, I was still writing lime and hadn't advanced in the canon at all which pissed me off.

Two things: I don't ship JuuSena, cuz Juumonji is the big brother type to me. Second, Hiruma still has to win over the real Sena so he can't just start fucking the kid yet.

* * *

There have been few times where the mind of Hiruma Yoichi had completely frozen, yet that is exactly what happened. For the span of what must have been a minute or two (_but felt like eternity_) the blond's instincts (_hormones_) kicked in and the pinned teen kissed back (_this doesn't seem like kissing; it was too rough and animalistic to be a kiss, had too much teeth_).

Then the blond's brain kicked back in and he, deciding _why the fuck not?, _rolled them both over (_he _is_ a Hell of a lot stronger than the kid, Demon or no Demon_) so that he was on top of the smaller teen, the blond's longer legs between the brunette's quicker ones (_in case Demon decided he didn't quite appreciate the new position_). Retrieving his tongue from where it had gone exploring in Sena's mouth, the quarterback grinned and stated that he had no issue with such an arrangement. Hiruma understood the value of loyalty and would gladly exchange his own for Demon's, for Sena's, and for that of anyone else that resided inside that brunette head. Although, the captain was curious about a few things: was Sena aware of what was happening? Was he aware of the others? How many others were there?

"_The Original knows that he is influenced by us to a degree, but he thinks we are just a combination of adrenaline and emotion in particular situations. He does not comprehend what we are or that we are always with him. He is so far unconscious that he will remember this as a vague dream he had. There are two of us aside from The Original: myself whom you have taken to addressing as Demon, and the other whom who you know as Eyeshield. He especially has grown since we met you." _A dream, huh? That will be a slight let down, but at least Hiruma now knows that he has something to capitalize on. The brat's too shy to admit his feelings, so the blond will have to draw them out himself. Said blond's thought process swiftly diverted back to the present when Demon got a hand loose and grabbed the bulge in the blond's pants that had formed during their previous activities. "_Now if you don't mind, I was rather enjoying myself and would like to get back to what I was doing please."_

Demon is surprisingly courteous, for a manifestation of rage.

Sealing their mouths back together, Hiruma manoeuvred them so that he was sitting against the barn wall, the kid on his lap. The kid's hands were clawing along his captain's neck and across his shoulders, while the quarterback's longer fingers busied themselves getting under the boy's t-shirt and up across the skin of his torso. Demon hissed when one of Hiruma's nails scraped over a nipple by accident, so the blond smirked into their not-quite-kiss and repeated the act agonizingly slowly. Demon's breath started coming in pants, but he would not moan.

_Challenge Accepted. _

Breaking the kiss, Hiruma pushed the kid's shirt up a little more so his mouth could pick up where his hands left off as they proceeded down to unbutton the shorts they encountered and slip past a thin pair of boxers and grasp at the prize.

Demon, having nothing left to occupy his lips with, struggled to keep some, more embarrassing sounds suppressed. Every sensation that the captain dealt him was piling up within him and he could feel The Original's delight. The Original was ecstatic and wanted nothing more than to show Hiruma just how good he was making them feel. Eyeshield's devotion may have been more platonic than that of the others, but it was stronger too, so he was struggling to merely keep himself together. Only Demon had any pride on this front, but even he was withering under the movements of a firm hand, soft tongue and sharp teeth. Once the blond started lightly applying his nails to the quivering organ in his hands, it was the end of any idea of pride. The boy whimpered and moaned and clung to the broad shoulders of his upperclassman, his hips shifting awkwardly, trying to feel more, of what he did not know. He was standing on the edge of a cliff, The Original wanted him to jump and Hiruma was steadily tugging him forward into open air.

The blond made a light nip on the collar bone (_not hard enough to mark, it would freak the kid out when he woke up_), and Demon found himself free falling.

With one last, drawn out cry the boy arched and then slumped forward onto Hiruma's chest, in a dead faint. The quarterback wiped his hands off on the grass beside him and was debating the risks and consequences of the team seeing him carry the kid in with a boner in his pants against the kid waking up to the sight him jacking off first. This decision was taken out of his hands when the kid abruptly sat back up. The blond noted by the set of the shoulders and look in the eyes that in was neither Sena nor Demon. It was Eyeshield.

"_The other one was overwhelmed. He's asleep now. On behalf of him, The Original, and myself, I've come to return the favour. What would you have of me?" _Figures the brunt of the kid's sexual desire was encased in the other personas. Demon was dominating and demanding, while Eyeshield was submissive and obedient. Curious to see where this could take him, the captain told the boy in his lap to do as he saw fit.

The first thing the brunette did was kiss his upperclassman. It was a proper kiss this time, soft and languid. He kissed the blond again under the jaw then moved down to place a kiss on the collarbone. Next he put one on Hiruma's sternum through his t-shirt, then his heart (_cold and black as it is_), and then a few more down the blond's torso to the waistline of his pants. The boy looked up at his captain as he slowly undid the button, pulled down the zipper and shifted the boxers to unsheathe the quarterback's rather impressive erection. Leaning forward, the first year kissed that too, right on the tip, before taking as much as he could in his mouth and wrapping his hands around the rest.

Every muscle in the quarterback's body seized from the heat that started from that mouth and flooded the rest of his body. The kid wasn't particularly _good_ at what he was doing, but he seemed to have an idea, minding his teeth and using his tongue. The second year leaned his head back, closed his eyes and focused on breathing as his hand wound its way through soft brown locks, more to hold on to than anything else. As he neared his finished, Hiruma figured he could be kind just this once and dragged the kid up off his dick and forward for more of that proper kissing, as he finished with his own hand. He couldn't help biting the kid's lip as he came and he hoped it wasn't too hard, or he'd be suspicious in the morning.

After wiping his hands off once more (_he had been careful about not getting the stuff on clothes_), he shoved himself back in his pants and turned to the Eyeshield persona who seemed to be awaiting orders. He smirked softly (_because smiles just didn't happen_) and fixed the boy's appearance, adjusting his shirt, doing up his pants, and de-ruffling his hair. The kid seemed to want another kiss so Hiruma gave him one and told him to go to bed, he would need his energy in the morning. The first year nodded as they both stood up. The blond grabbed his gun from where it had disappeared to when Demon first jumped him.

They came around the corner and ran straight into Juumonji.

The armed blond could tell right away that the delinquent-turned-athlete had either heard or witnessed what just went down between himself and his ace player (_or at least two thirds of him_) and thanked whatever had stopped the lineman from interrupting. The scarred blond told the kid that Anezaki was looking for him, prompting the smaller first year to bid them both good night.

The remaining two stared each other down. Juumonji asked if he heard what he thought he heard. Hiruma asked so what if he did. Juumonji told him that just because they were away from home, didn't mean he could rape innocent kids. Hiruma grinned and asked who said it wasn't consensual on both sides. Juumonji growled about how anyone with eyes could tell that Sena regarded every word of Hiruma's as law. The captain said strip, the kid would strip, no questions, no complaints. Hiruma struggled not to snicker at the fact that this had already happened. Instead he made a show of rolling his eyes and being irritated about having to explain himself, eventually swearing on his little black book that his claim on Sena was in no way against the brat's will. Juumonji narrowed his eyes at Hiruma and said if that situation changed, he'd break every bone in the quarterback's body, and he walked into the barn.

Hiruma tched to himself.

Xx121xX

The team got up early the next morning to find that the Seibu team was already practising and Doburoku got them doing Indian Style Running. That night Hiruma convinced him to take the Devil Bats on the Death March.

The next day, as the all stood in front of the plane and beckoned the others down to Hell, Hiruma watched as every player he had collected, even those fucking brothers, crossed the line on their own. Finally only Sena was left.

The blond quarterback had been watching the kid this whole time and never saw so much as a trace of the other personalities. Whether or not Sena; pure, unadulterated Sena; was going to be loyal to him was being tested as he hesitated on the wrong side of the line.

He crossed over and tore up his ticket. The captain couldn't remove the grin from his face if he tried.

After gassing up the truck one last time, the Devil Bats set off for Las Vegas. The back team ran whatever pass route Hiruma yelled at them as he rained bullets on them. The line got behind the truck and started pushing. Sena was given a rock to kick.

The first few nights were rough on everyone, the three brothers nearly bailed (_well, two did, Juumonji didn't seem so keen on the idea_). Even the quarterback suffered from the strain. It was a rather large insult to his pride when Anezaki insisted on taking care of him after he made a point of appearing perfectly fine in front of the others (_so he did not sit still for her at all_). Of course, when the kid came around the corner, it wasn't nearly as aggravating. The blond noted the knees wrapped in ice packs and felt a brief twinge for the kid. He wouldn't have as much access to the cold's anaesthetic as the rest of them, because the fucking manager would get suspicious if she saw him wearing them. From the firmness in the steps and the calm in the eyes, the blond strategist figured this to be Eyeshield.

He was proven correct when the boy said that The Original had gone to sleep, firmly believing his captain was indestructible, but Demon and himself weren't so naïve. The brunette sighed when he saw 'Mamori-neechan's' handiwork. When asked, the kid said he would not have aided his upperclassman, for that would be to acknowledge said upperclassman's need for aid. If Hiruma wanted help, he would ask for it. Hiruma ruffled the kid's hair and got a kiss in return.

"_Demon likes fooling around with you and I've always been yours on some level, but two thirds isn't going to cut it, Hiruma-taichou. We will help The Original out through the day, so he'll be more conscious at night, but from there out it's on you to make the moves. The Original is very shy." _The blond promised to get a move on with that front and, after one more kiss, the boy bid his captain good night.


	13. to Raw Diamond

Okay, I took my sweet time with this, didn't I? Now, reviews: shanagi95, we see some more of Juumonji in this chapter but nothing really important and I think that will be the end of his interference. Shades 22, I'm glad you lik it so much and no you didn't weird me out :P I rather enjoyed reading your review and I hope you enjoy reading my fic. DropofWaterFlickerofFire, I'm updating as I can, hop you continue to like it :)

* * *

The days passed quickly and routinely. The team would get up at dawn, get as far as they could in the span of twenty-four hours, and then collapse, delirious with exhaustion and sleep for twelve to eighteen hours and relax for the remaining time until they had to repeat the process. True to their promise, Demon and Eyeshield had been helping the kid with his training. As such, the kid was full of energy when he told Hiruma that he had figured out how to brake without slowing down. The blond knew that the figuring out part was all Sena as well (_he tripped on a fucking crack. There's no way it _wasn't _him_). The captain grinned at him and ruffled his hair, like he did with Eyeshield, then tugged him behind the truck and out of Anezaki's sight.

Sitting the kid down, the blond started wrapping ice packs around the boy's knees, explaining that he'll run as much interference as possible between the running back and manager, so that she won't notice the packs, but the brat should probably get on the truck and under a blanket so he can keep them on all night. Sena smiled shyly at him and thanked him, but when he moved to stand his knees buckled and gave away completely. Sighing dramatically, the blond picked up his running back bridal style and manoeuvred them both on to the truck bed. After carefully setting the brunette down, making sure to mind the knees, Hiruma mentioned he had to back for his gun. It was an excuse to go deal with his own aches and injuries.

He was back shortly, and by now everyone else was also on the truck, settling in to sleep. The space next to Sena was still suspiciously empty, even though he's usually surrounded on all sides, but the blond didn't exactly care about the _why_s or the _how_s. But he knew that neither he nor Sena were going to complain about sleeping in such close quarters that night. Sure enough, the kid didn't make a sound when Hiruma wriggled his way right up against Sena so that their backs were pressed together. The captain assumed the kid must have had some kind of full-body blush going on, if the abnormally high body temperature was anything to go by.

The blond rolled over so he was almost spooning the boy and held his wrist to the kid's forehead, making some quiet remark about not getting sick until they reach Vegas. Of course, the moment their skin came into contact, the brat's arms shot down to hide the front of his shorts.

Poor kid, humiliated by an erection, but unable to keep it a secret. The quarterback smirked.

Now, Hiruma's ears weren't just for show. He could tell by the sounds of breathing that every person on the truck bed was already sound asleep. So he snuck his other hand up, under the boy's neck and over his mouth and the hand on the brunette's forehead slid down the cheek, the neck, the shoulder, along the arm, to where his hands were shaking. Pulling the boy flush against his larger body, the captain whispered at him not to be afraid. Deftly moving the smaller hands out of his way, the blond grasped the kid's hard on through the material, causing Sena to practically convulse in his upperclassman's arms. Hiruma pressed his lips to the brunette's neck and quietly undid his shorts.

The kid's hands wrapped around his wrist, attempting to stop him, but the captain easily broke past the meagre defence and twisted long fingers around the boy's erection. Putting his lips back to the smaller teen's ear, the blond told him to relax; they both knew how much he wanted this. Just leave it to Hiruma, he can make it feel good, feel _really_ good, but don't make a sound, okay, or the others will wake up.

Sena nodded and the blond moved his hand from the kid's mouth to under his shirt and started playing the little pink buds that resided there. One of the brunette's hands came up to press its knuckles over his lips, the other staying firmly wrapped around his upperclassman's wrist, the grip more encouraging than dissuading now. The quarterback shifted them around so that the kid was on his back and his captain hovered over him.

Remembering how Demon reacted, Hiruma tried running his nails across the heated flesh in his hands, which was rewarded with much writhing and stifled sounds of pleasure. Pressing his face back into the boy's neck, the second year gave a couple light nips at the skin he found there. He was debating on kissing the first year, like he did with Eyeshield (_because it was fucking delicious_), when his ear's twitched. Somebody's breathing had changed.

Somebody had woken up.

In a matter of microseconds, the blond had triangulated the sound to its person of origin and found himself giving a rather harsh bite to the brunette underneath him because, of course, it was _that fucker Juumonji who woke up. _

It took about a second for Hiruma to decide what to do (_read: the most efficient option to keep the lineman quiet and carry on with his activities involving Sena_) and with a little sleight of hand, he managed to get the brunette's arms wrapped around his shoulders as he went in for that kiss. The conniving strategist knew that the former delinquent had a decent view of what was going on and revelled in such a situation because everything about Sena's body language said he was thoroughly enjoying this, so the muscled blond had no right or reason to interrupt. The captain looked out of the corner of his eye and met Juumonji's stare, smirking when the lineman sighed in what could only be submission, and rolled over so that he didn't have to watch. _Victory._

It didn't take much longer for the kid to finish, his last whimper swallowed by his upperclassman's lips. The older teen released the boy and cleaned them both off with tissues pulled out of his bag. Sena had an odd look on his face and kept fidgeting. He wanted to ask something, probably a few things, but Hiruma just smirked and told him to go to sleep. The blond would let him know when he could return the favour.

Of course, it wasn't long before Demon came along looking for trouble, and Eyeshield shortly after. Sena himself never took the initiative, but the quarterback knew he wanted to play on the nights he kept an empty space next to where he slept (_The eldest brother never bothered them again_). The blond found his routine changing slightly as his escapades started to cycle through the three personas. He never out right fucked the boy (_any of him_) because it would be extremely detrimental to his training, and the boy would be suffering enough with the condition of his knees.

He started realizing that his attachment to the kid had grown significantly shortly after they had hit San Antonio. Everyone had been grateful for the chance to shower and sleep in an actual bed, and Hiruma got a substantial amount of pleasure from the blush on Sena's face after seeing his upperclassman come out of the showers shirtless (_never get bored of teasing the shrimp_). It was during the next day's run that the blond discovered the nagging sense of _something is wrong_ rang true. Checking over his shoulder, he noticed that the shorty who had been so close behind them for the last few days was no where to be found. It was only from years of practice that he kept his cool, but he couldn't shake the thought that something terrible had happened, and they were leaving an easily frightened child with multiple personality disorder stranded in a strange place with a strange language even though the blond had told him that the second year would take responsibility for him, promised it to _all fucking three of him- _

Needless to say when the brat finally called him, the quarterback was _not happy_, but the anger didn't make it any easier to stifle the relief he felt that the boy was perfectly fine, if a little lost. The kid caught up easily enough, but for some reason brought an idiot and a girl with him. Hiruma allowed the Taki siblings to run with them on the off chance that Natsuhiko (_on second thought, he's just Taki_) could be a passable tight end. Suzuna might as well play cheerleader while she was here.

The blond walked away from the campfire, shortly followed by his running back. Around the side of the truck, they stopped and looked at each other. Sena took one, two, three steps forward. Hiruma reached out and drew him in the rest of the way. The blond wrapped his arms around the first year's smaller body and rested his forehead on the kid's shoulder. He practically growled that if the brat ever, _ever, _tried something like this again, he would be handcuffed to the captain _for the rest of his fucking life._ The boy's arms came up to encircle the blond's neck.

_"I missed you too, Hiruma-san."_


	14. to Black Jack Is 21

Did I take my sweet-ass time with this chapter? You bet your sorry butts. shanagi95, I tried to incorporate some kind of pet name for Hiruma-san, but he just doesn't seem like the type, ya know? I hope you don't mind what I did instead. Angel Fantasy, thank you for the beautiful idea. I had to twist it a little because Sena is not one for sneak attacks and on does not just sneak up on Hiruma-san. xDarklightx, here is you're update :D

* * *

After the hug-and-threaten thing happened, Hiruma found that the kid had taken to sticking to him like glue. The boy kept pace with him during the runs, even while zig-zagging, carrying Yukimitsu for a brief spiel, and eventually kicking two separate halves of the rock. Additionally, the brunette had started to make a point of sleeping next to the blond, whether he wanted to fool around or not. The captain still had regular little escapades with all three personalities, but now they always curled into his side and used him for a pillow when finished. The quarterback knew that anyone else doing this would annoy the fuck out of him, but it didn't with Sena.

The only down side was that Demon kept trying to give him pet names.

Sena just called him Hiruma-san, Eyeshield was more formal, calling him Hiruma-taichou, but Demon had something different every time. Hiru-kun, Hicchan, Yoichi-taichou, even Yo-chan. Upon inquiry, Demon casually commented that it was one of his greatest pleasures to aggravate other people, but very rarely did he get the chance to do so.

_Figures._

The blond didn't bother telling the brunette off for it (_there were much more entertaining ways to silence any coherent speech. Kekeke…_) and they continued what the quarterback suspected might be the beginnings of some kind of fucked up, four-way-but-really-two-way relationship.

The funny part was that, even though he had touched the original Sena on several occasions, he was yet to let the first year touch him back. There was a very particular reason for this though: the brunette would need time to explore and permission for every move he made.

Meaning it was going to be a lot fucking riskier to call on that favour on the back of the Devil Bat truck.

This is why Hiruma was in an extra good mood when the lights of Las Vegas appeared on the horizon. They were almost there. Demon had called him on it that night.

"_You're acting like a little kid at Christmas, Yoichi. Well, a little you at least." _The blond merely raised an eyebrow and asked about the use of his given name. "_We couldn't come up with an address that suited you. Not one that I could use anyway. I'm not submissive like they are. Now answer me: Are you really that hyped about finishing the Death March?"_

Anybody else would have listened to the question and heard the callousness and the underlying anger that together made up what Demon was. But the Devil of Deimon wasn't anybody else. On top of that, Eyeshield had told him a lot about their coexistence and development, such as the fact that they were gaining access to emotions beyond that of their initial respective manifestations (_read: Demon understood more than rage, Eyeshield more than resilience_). All of that added up to the second year deciding that the barest trace of fear in Demon's voice was _not,_ in fact, imaginary.

The most volatile and dangerous persona was nervous that Hiruma was going to drop Sena like a hot potato once his options in bed partners opened up to more than the Deimon Devil Bats.

The quarterback wrapped his long arm around the brunette's shoulders and nipped him on the ear, the way only Demon truly loved. Turning to walk back to the truck, the blond casually tossed over his shoulder that they had yet to have any fun in an actual bed yet and he was pretty eager to try that out.

"_You're such a shithead, Yoichi. But that's what we love the most about you._" The shithead only cackled.

They must have been a frightening sight for the Las Vegas pedestrians: covered from head to toe in sweat and dirt, collapsing from exhaustion in the street, yelling and cheering in their foreign language. They probably looked like they had barely survived some natural disaster, smelled like it too.

It was _fucking_ _hilarious_ when Doburoku gave his little heart warming speech only to find they had all passed out. _Kekeke…_

Hiruma would never admit to anyone that the moment he shut the door to his hotel room and laid eyes on the waiting mattress he was dead asleep. What he would tell you though is that there is no rest for the wicked, which is why a certain running back was knocking on his door not two minutes after he woke himself back up. He allowed the brunette into his room and quickly determined him to be the original Sena.

"_Umm… Sorry for barging in. I know I should be resting, but- this is probably too much to ask- please don't shoot me-" _The look on Hiruma's face showed a combination of wondering why they weren't passed this yet and wanting the kid to spit it the fuck out. _"I-I couldn't hear your breathing. It felt wrong. I-umm… I wanted to stay here… with you?" _So that's what he wanted. Slowly, a grin slid onto the blond's face. Beckoning the boy forward with one hand, patting a spot on the bed with the other, the quarterback made sure the shrimp was comfortably settled, the door shut and locked before he finally responded that it was about time the captain called that favour back.

The first year's face heated up but he didn't start freaking out, meaning he was expecting something like this to happen. The sudden tenseness in his posture, however, spoke volumes about his confidence in his performance. The blond crawled onto the sheets next to the boy, kissed him, bit his lip gently, and told him not to worry. They would take this step by step. _Now come here. _

The upperclassman shifted them both so that he was leaning against the headboard, the brunette straddling his lap. The kid was nervous so Hiruma would be nice, stroking his hair, whispering easy instructions to him. _Kiss here, put that hand there, like this._ The blond was aware on some level that 'gentle' shouldn't have even been in his vocabulary, but he had to be careful with Sena. Only when the brunette was completely comfortable with his tasks would the blond be free to be rougher with him.

It was slow going; the short boy was hesitant and kept stopping, but he eventually gained confidence, running his hands up and down his captain's chest and back under his shirt before going for the pants. Hiruma had one hand on the first year's neck, thumb coming around as if to choke, the other resting on the smaller boy's hips, both gripping a little tighter at the feel of smaller fingers around his arousal. Kissing the blond under his jaw and nuzzling his neck was the kid's signal that he could take anything his upperclassman threw at him now. The quarterback rolled them over.

Now pinning the pipsqueak to the mattress, the second year peppered his running back's face and neck with kisses and light nips, careful to not leave marks. His much bigger hands ran over and under cloth and up and down flesh. Once the brunette was sufficiently red faced and panting did the devious blond slip his fingers underneath the boy's waistband.

Thinking back on it, Hiruma never had the chance to properly cherish the smaller player's prized legs. With that thought in mind, the captain made sort work of both the pants and boxers in front of him. The chibi was suddenly very shy. Sitting back up on his knees and removing his shirt, the strategist made a comment about evening out the playing field before slanting his mouth back over shrimp's, hands running up, down and between those beautiful limbs.

When the blond sat back he had taken his cock out of Sena's reach, so the brunette quickly rectified that situation, taking it further by beginning to tug off his upperclassman's pants. The way he saw it, just because they were showing roughly the same amount of skin, did not mean things were playing out fairly. The second year chuckled and obliged the demand of the boy beneath him, removing the last of both his own clothing and the pipsqueak's. Drawing the smaller boy back into his lap, Hiruma wrapped one arm around the thin waist in front of him, pushing their two erections together and holding them there with his other hand. Manoeuvring the kid, his hand, and his hips, the blond created a friction that had Sena clinging to his much broader shoulders moaning desperately.

"_Hiru-Hiru… Ma-sa… aah… nnnn… c-can't hold- mph! - on-" _The brat's voiced dissolved into a plethora of hisses, hums, and little squeals, eventually morphing into loud, drawn out groan as he had his completion. The blond drew his face out from where it had burrowed in Sena's hair to watch the flickering expressions and total bliss cross the little teen's face and found his own orgasm rushing up that much faster from the sight. He clutched his little lover closer to him as he came.

Exhausted and gloriously sated, they both collapsed and the brunette curled up into his captain, as was his original intention. He smiled lightly when a long fingered arm coiled its way around his thin shoulders and he knew from experience that arm would not let him go until it shook him awake the next morning. It would do so at the exact time necessary for them both to shower, clean up (_maybe fool around a bit more during said shower_), and for Sena to get back into his own room before anyone else (_read: Anezaki_) noticed he was missing.

_It was time to earn some money. Look out Las Vegas, Hiruma Yoichi has come to town. YA-HA!_


	15. to Max Devil Power

Ha ha! I've returned! I'm awesome! This is mostly just filler but we start the Fall Tournament here. Unfortunnately, there's not much in the way of yaoi goodness. xDarklightx, here's another update for you. DropofWaterFlickerofFire, I must say I laughed my head off when I wrote that line, but it just seemed like something Hiruma would say, no? shanagi95 I must apologize. I couldn't really play around with Demon and gambling this time (so I'll throw it in somewhere else ;)) because of how specific the author already was about Sena's actions in the casino. Angel Fantasy, while I totally agree with you on the breaking down of the 3 Sena personas _and _the fact that Eyeshield and Demon combined could pull a fast one on Hiruma, the point of the scen was to further the relationship between Hiruma and the original Sena. Remember that Sena isn't totally aware of the other personalities yet.

But enough of me, on with the show!

* * *

Upon entrance to the casino, Hiruma immediately navigated his way to the Blackjack table. Counting cards was a piece of cake for him and it had the added bonus of being within sight of the roulette stand that Sena and the monkey had taken up residence at. The pair had been doing rather well by betting on black or red and it appeared that the running back had been the one making the decisions. The blond figured Demon to be the gambler in Sena as he used his intuition and guts more than the other two sides. Roulette was a game of luck and chance so Demon would be the most useful.

Then the monkey bet all their earnings on the number 21 and completely lost. _Typical moron. _

They had to visit a few casinos to earn enough to both pay off the fucking drunk's debt _and_ buy plane tickets back to Japan for them all. In the end, the quarterback made the most (_no surprises there_) but the small brunette also had a decent contribution. He had stuck with the roulette tables but the logical Eyeshield had made Demon start betting half the winnings each time instead of all of them. Just in case the monkey had some other stupid idea, they wouldn't lose everything this time.

At long last, it was time to go home. The Fall Tournament was about to begin.

As the semester kicked off, Hiruma started by getting Doburoku actually employed by the school; his salary would be transferred into the _amefuto _club funds account (_he owed the quarterback for paying off his debts, poor man_). The blond also needed to get Taki set up to take (_and pass_) the mid year entrance exam.

Getting a recording of the fucking manager in the cheerleader's outfit was a lovely little piece of blackmail. _Thank you, Suzuna. _

The practice that would determine the regular players commenced. Everybody had improved immensely, but in the end, you took the best you could get and didn't settle for anything less. Yukimitsu took his loss gracefully and didn't make a scene (_now if only the fucking manager would stop being so emotional about it_).

The team got to work on memorizing strategies and practicing formations and soon it was Saturday. The Autumn Tournament started in 24 hours and the fucking fat ass turned tail and fled.

Of course, he didn't go far. Kurita was a creature of habit, and Hiruma had known him for a few years now. So, while everyone else was scouring local restaurants, bakeries, and football stadiums, the blond headed straight for the gym's storage room. The fatty had been nervous all week, so by now it would have reached a breaking point.

Yep, the fat ass had (_somehow_) managed to stuff himself inside the vaulting horse. The whole thing was shaking from his nerves. The quarterback shot at him for his whining and found the whole fiasco a waste of time and ammunition until the round shit in the box wanted to look at the T.V. in their old classroom. The one that the Maoh Trio had signed when they promised to go for the Christmas Bowl.

That was a lot more than three signatures.

It felt like the day they all crossed the do-or-die line all over again. The captain was reminded that they were a team now, not just two athletes and a bunch of warm bodies. They were the Devil Bats.

The captain also wondered which persona signed Sena's name (_looked like fucking Harry Potter font_).

After rounding up the others and dragging them all down to the Tokyo Stadium, the blond drove the point home to himself and the others that they were _a team_ and they were going _to win. _

_They were going to win the Christmas Bowl._

Everyone was running high on energy the next day. Deimon greeted her (_cocky and over done_) opponents. Munakata was a flat out ass. The teams lined up (_the fuck did Sakuraba do to his hair?_). The board chairman of the American Football League gave his speech. The games began.

_The fucking shrimp followed the idiot onto a bus into Nagano!_

Of course, the team practically fell apart at the seams when they found out their ace player wouldn't be present for most of the opening match even with Zokugaku going to pick him up. Hiruma had to do some serious rallying to keep them together, even with the help of Juumonji talking to his boys and Suzuna's leading the American cheerleaders.

Deimon still gave up that first touchdown because the line couldn't hold it together. This, in the end, didn't matter because they took back that touchdown and had the pleasure of watching Munakata's mechanical grin suffer a serious malfunction. _Kekeke…_

Just as Amino started viciously marking Monta, the star of the show made his entry. The kid was knocked off Habashira's bike so hard he flew ten feet in the air and should have broken his neck landing. The efficiency in the way he touched the ground was all Eyeshield.

As the play began again, Hiruma had them using the sweep manoeuvre and Sena obliterated Munakata.

It was over in an instant and Amino didn't stand a chance.

The rest of the match carried on in a similar fashion until the final score amounted to 38 – 8 in Deimon's favour.

The next day, the blond had to blow up the monkey and the brat for plotting nonsense with regards to Musashi. They seemed relatively unsurprised to find an underground weaponry hold on school property though, which showed that they at least recognized their captain for the complete lunatic that he was.

The old man got them back on track and thinking about the tournament and Hiruma brought up the fact that the idiot still wasn't an official Deimon student yet.

As it turns out, Taki was a lot like Kurita; if American football is involved, he has a much higher success rate. He barely passed the exam, but Hiruma didn't have to lift a finger to get him into the school and on the team.

When told that their chances of beating the Yuuhi Guts were 99%, the idiots practically started celebrating right then and there. Being used to being the underdog in any given situation, the quarterback quickly brought them all down a notch. They hadn't won yet.

Game day kicked off with the pleasant surprise that all the major competition was playing on the same field. Yuuhi's captain, Atsumi, paid attention to his opponents, it turned out. He knew the blond strategist was out to shake them up before he even acknowledged the second year's presence.

Hiruma could kind of respect him for that.

However, the blond's attention was quickly focused on Oujo's performance in the first match of the day. Demon also stuck his head out for the first time in a while. The quarterback had forgotten that Demon had a weird fixation with tearing down strong opponents like Shin. The moment he laid eyes on the linebacker he went quiet, a strange, almost predatory smile on his face.

_How was nobody else noticing this!?_

Demon could pinpoint the differences between the Spear Tackle and the new and improved Trident Tackle with ease, even if he couldn't articulate them. As he stared at the linebacker and the linebacker stared back, Hiruma felt a possessive kind of irritation crawl up his spine and sink into his muscles. He felt better when the brat refocused on the match against Yuuhi.

Except Yuuhi was sitting on the bench while random athletes came on to the field.


	16. to The Real Body

Is this hideously late? Yes it is. Will I apologize? No! Those of you who read my note at the end of _Payback_ were fairly warned and those who didn't, do so now.

To all the beautiful people who reviewed: DarklightxX, here's an update. shanagi 95, good question, will be answered later on. Darasu Uolt, glad you like it, I wanted to try something new. DevianYUE, I'm glad you like it, and yes my inspiration and free time have both returned to me. kagome midnight fox, thanks for the perfect score, hopefully I can keep it. Magenta Moon, yes the random athletes were a nice touch, thanks for agreeing. hypersreak, will Sena discover Demon and Eyeshield? Only time willl tell :P I'm not yet sure how Mamori is going to discover the HiruSena yaoi right under her nose, but I'll try to make it good. And nobody else notices Sena's multiple personality disorder because they're stupid, overly oblivious, or have too much of they're own nonsense to think about to pay much attention.

Ok, go read the damn chapter.

* * *

One thing Hiruma never had to worry about at Deimon (_not that it would have bothered him anyway_) was taking heat for a loser team damaging the school's reputation (_he was Hiruma Yoichi; he _was _the reputation_). Apparently the Yuuhi Guts were suffering from this very problem. As a result, all of the players on the field were aces of the school's other, more popular sports teams. The blond shut down any complaining from the Devil Bats, by calling it out as the hypocrisy it was (_read: Satake and Yamaoka were from the basketball team and Ishimaru from track. If Yuuhi was cheating, then so was Deimon._)

_Besides, substituting players is only effective if it actually makes the team stronger. Kekeke…_

After massacring the extras, Yuuhi's legitimate players finally got permission to do battle with Deimon, and the quarterback glimpsed Demon stirring in the back of Sena's eyes. He wanted a real opponent to destroy, and he was finally getting one.

The rage persona was content to retreat after cutting down Atsumi completely, leaving the emotional Sena to look over the remains of the Yuuhi Guts. The second year was just glad that the sight didn't drive the kid into some kind of weird depression.

Although, that may have been because he was so easily distracted by the following games between Seibu and Koigahama (_whoever set that up was clearly a Seibu fan_) and Hashiratani and Kyoshin.

Nobody foresaw the level of kick ass Kyoshin brought to the tournament. The moment a bunch of freshmen stepped on to the field, all of what made Hashiratani a powerful team proved completely worthless.

_At the end of the day, somebody's got to be the loser. That's just the way it works. _

Even though Deimon was still a full match away from facing off with Kyoshin, Hiruma knew he would spend the next two weeks plotting ways to get past (_more accurately under. Seriously, that lot is fucking huge_)Poseidon, and he needed a fuckload of more information on them to even begin.

Conversely, the Dokubari Scorpions barely registered in the blond's manipulative mind, they would be so easily beaten.

As he fired off orders at the fucking manager, the captain glimpsed the runt's face take on a rather dazed feel as the monkey promptly told him that he never would have made it as a secretary. _No shit._

The running back then grabbed his bag and high tailed it into some bushes upon sight of a reporter (_kid was finally getting the idea_).There was just one little problem…

_Those bushes were currently occupied by the tallest line in the league._

At first it seemed nothing would come of it; Mizumachi was overly enthusiastic to a fault, but he appeared to mean well. Of course, then he turned around and told Kakei that the player they had been looking for was here.

_Shit. _

Now, make no mistake; Hiruma was in no way intimidated by the open display of disdain and animosity from the Kyoshin linebacker, but he was worried about the damage this would do to the shorty's psyche. An entire third of the kid's personality was constructed around this idea of Eyeshield 21 being a fictional character that the blond invented spur of the moment. The fact that a person with the title actually exists may shatter that third and throw the other two personalities completely of kilter.

The worst part about it would be that it was something that the captain himself couldn't fix. Sena had to figure this out by himself. Whether or not the Eyeshield persona disintegrated or stood up that much stronger had to be his own prerogative.

That didn't stop _Demon_ from being pissed off.

The strategist saw it coming as they were leaving the stadium for dinner: the clenched fists, the firmer steps, and the gleam in the eyes that was hidden from the others by the shield. The blond snuck his ace player away just in time for him to explode.

"_Some warning, Yoichi! Some fucking warning! That kind of shock almost killed the Original, and I can't even find Eyeshield anymore! I was gonna kill that fucker Yoichi, I really was!"_

The ranting carried on in a similar threatening fashion for a while until the brunette whipped off his helmet and made his leader look straight in his manic, enraged, and distraught gaze. Seizing the blond by the collar, the third-turned-half of Sena demanded to know, "_Why would you do this to us!?"_

It took everything Hiruma knew about the Sena Trio to calm Demon down. He held the boy close and whispered things to him, things about why Hiruma used the title, things about how Hiruma wouldn't change how he had done this because it probably would have changed them, things about how this wouldn't matter in the long run because they were stronger than this.

The blond knew he was forgiven when Demon told to stop being cheesy and gave his upperclassman a kiss.

The pair quickly caught up to the rest of the team and by the time they all hit the restaurant, the original Sena had taken back over. When asked by the shrimp, Hiruma acknowledged that he had always known about the 'real' Eyeshield 21 and gave Sena the nickname anyway. The blond hoped that, wherever he was, the Eyeshield persona understood that doing so was a symbol of his captain's faith in his ability.

Beyond that, the quarterback made a point of not making a fuss out of the Kyoshin confrontation (_especially with Ojou sharing the restaurant space. Somebody's got to keep that fucking Takami on his toes. Kekeke…_). He was mildly irritated when he spotted the shorty outside, _alone, _talking to Shin, but the blond said nothing about it as he figured it may be one of the best things for the brat right now. At the end of the night, just as they all headed out, Hiruma caught the kid's eye and grinned.

Eyeshield grinned back.


	17. to Iron Fist

Hey lovelies, I'm back! Let's get down to business shall we? xDarklightx thanks for being so faithful :P Guest don't worry, I have something special planned for the Naga game :D Angel Fantasy, I full on agree with you, and maybe I'll throw in some masochism on Hiruma's side, just for shits and giggles. shanagi95, I apologize, but this chapter is mainly about Demon. I'll put more of Original Sena in the next one. fluffydono, I'm glad you think so :) Inumaru12 here's more for you. nightcorerocker, relax, as long as I'm alive, I'll see to it nobody within earsot of me will forget about Eyeshield 21 :P Pheonix halfbreed, Yes it is awesome if I do say so my self.

Read away!

* * *

The game against the Dokubari Scorpions started out interesting enough (_and there was something flat out delicious about the kid wearing make up on command_). That idiot Kanagushi was right about _amefuto_ being a head game, but he was dead wrong in thinking that he was the only one who knew the rules.

It was quite entertaining, showing the lot of them how you really play the _amefuto _head game. _Kekeke… _

It wasn't so entertaining watching Habashira Rui break down after Zokuto's battle with Kyoshin, trying to figure out what was wrong with his training methods, why did they all give up part way, _what was the difference between himself and Hiruma that keeps the Devil Bats together where the Chameleons fall apart!?_

For once, the blond didn't have the answer.

After handing off the broken player to his manager (_can't shake the feeling that they're closer than that. Cousins, maybe?_), the Devil Bats' captain started looking for ways to get some information on Kyoshin for next week's match. The easiest and most productive thing to do was spy, but how to go about it? He eventually discovered Kimidori Sports where Kyoshin would buy their shoes for astro turf. After acquiring a part time job there for the next twenty four hours, Hiruma set about purchasing astro turf shoes for his own team.

The owner, Kimidori-san, wasn't too bright, so he didn't question it when his new part-timer paid enough to buy over a dozen pairs of shoes all in cash. He didn't even bat an eye lash at said part-timer's constant possession of some pretty heavy artillery.

_And if the sight of that artillery warded off potential shoplifters, then that was just extra convenience. _

At the end of the day though, it was Sena who had to deliver and conveniently spy on Kyoshin because they wouldn't recognize him. Sena also had to get over any remaining fears of Kakei.

The blond got a call from the shrimp later that night. A call that did what very few things could:

Scared him.

_"Hey Yoichi, it's me. I'm near the school. Could you come out for a sec? I uhhh… I think I'm bleeding. I'm not sure the blood's mine, but I don't know that all of it came from this guy."_

On the one hand, it sounded like Demon just killed somebody, which was bad. On the other hand, it also appeared he was hurt, which was about a million times worse. The quarterback kept the kid on the phone as he grabbed a first aid kit and bolted over, listening closely as the brat determined that, yep, there was a pretty steady stream of blood coming from a gash on his head. _Shit. _

Finally arriving at his destination, Hiruma found the brat in question halfway down an alley cursing about what his mother's reaction to all the blood on his clothes was going to be. Upon noticing his captain, the brunette explained that the unconscious punk in the corner had tripped up the Original on his way home (_ergo, the head wound_) and tried to mug him. After that it was pretty much instinctual to throw Demon up as a shield. As the blond cleaned the blood off the running back's face and disinfected the gash (_not nearly as bad as it looked, it'll be practically invisible by morning_) he asked if the smaller teen had ever done this before.

_"Nah, wasn't really awake before you. But out of all of us, running was mostly my thing. Mind, Eyeshield didn't exactly exist back then either, so it was really just me and the Original. The Original's thoughts were always the driving force, so I really just ran away, but today was different. Today he let me out and I could decide not to run. So I didn't."_ Demon looked over at the heap of out cold flesh. _"I wonder if he's still alive over there."_

Realizing that the boy wasn't kidding, the quarterback got up and checked the would-be mugger's pulse and assessed the damage. Broken nose, bruises blossoming all over his face, arm bent at a funny angle, and the way he was curled up into himself suggested bruised, maybe broken ribs, but he would live.

Turning back to Demon (_who suggested leaving the punk right where he was_), Hiruma called in an anonymous tip to the cops so they would find him. He then took the brunette back to the club house for a change of uniform. The blond now understood why Eyeshield was so paranoid about keeping a spare. The kid leaned into him as they walked.

_"It's still kinda hard to sleep without you, you know? The Original is mostly fine because he's home and he grew up this way, but Eyeshield and me? It's all we know. You're all we know. It's a pain in the ass sometimes, rolling over and finding you're not there." _

Hiruma tugged the boy into the clubhouse to get him cleaned up. He hadn't realized how much the two alter egos had developed due to his influence. It made relative sense considering everything the blond had put the smaller boy through generally required the strength of mind that the original Sena just did not possess.

Commenting on how Demon was unusually chatty tonight, the quarterback got the spare uniform out of his ace player's locker. He was promptly told that the rage persona was going to be as chatty as he damn well liked until the adrenaline wore off. Recognizing that the smaller teen was upset about his lack of appropriate response, the second year made a casual observation that he hadn't been sleeping all that great himself since they came back to Tokyo. It just seemed to be extra cold at night in a way that had nothing to do with the season.

Apparently satisfied, the brunette hung up the towel he had used to clean the blood off his neck on the drying rack.

The blond took one look at the shit-eating grin on Demon's face and knew the boy wasn't going to lift a finger to undress himself. Rolling his eyes, he dragged the boy forward by his collar and started undoing the buttons and shoving the shirt off the thin pair of shoulders. After manually stripping the boy down to his skivvies, he almost expected the brat to jump him. The brunette however seemed to be feeling the effects of the blood loss by now and was looking a little woozy. A tad put out by the lack of action, Hiruma redressed the boy and asked about what he had learned today at Kyoshin.

_"That Kakei's got tunnel vision, and Mizumachi, a big mouth. They're both assholes." _The running back paused for a second, head turned slightly to the side, as if listening to someone else speak. _"Eyeshield says they don't mean to be."_

After hearing the story of Kakei and the 'original' Eyeshield 21 and Mizumachi's comments about Komusubi, the blond took his ace home. Practice tomorrow was going to be rougher than normal on kid due to tonight's adventure and he needed some rest.

Upon reaching the gate to the Kobayakawa household, a very drowsy looking Demon pulled his upperclassman down by his uniform tie for one of those rough not-kisses that Hiruma had come to affiliate with this side of the boy. Gathering the brunette close to him, Hiruma tilted his head and thrust his tongue past plush lips, enticing the smaller boy to play. After a few minutes the pair parted, the blond nipping lightly at aforementioned lips before releasing the boy and finally saying goodnight.

After watching the boy make his way into the house, the strategist turned and walked off, grinning and feeling that life was really good right now.

The next morning, Komusubi was missing.


	18. to Rookie Ace

Hey all, this chapter takes us to the end of the Deimon vs. Kyoshin game and next chapter is the meeting with Riku, bound to be some intruge there ;P In response to my lovely reviewers: xDarklightx, here's your update :) DevianYUE, it's good to be back. wolf-with-snake-eyes, I had completely forgotten all about Riku coming into this chapter, but now I can't stop thinking about his interactions with the Sena Trio. I also want to throw in some jealousy on Hiruma's part if I can. Yuu-chan, it`s always nice to hear confirmation that I am in fact keeping everybody in character. I really struggled with that scene because I didn`t want Hiruma to come off as too mushy, but at the same time, he does have to react somehow. Okay, go read now :D

* * *

The fucking fatass was beside himself. Of course, the bite-sized lineman was found by the end of the day along with an added bonus of getting to watch the three brothers beat the tar out of him, but the whole thing was a complete waste of valuable practice time _and _lost them their drunken trainer. _Fuck. _

The day after was the trick play card test that Hiruma made everyone else write. He was pleased to note that the brat passed with flying colours, which marginally made up for the fact that he had spent the day fooling around at a sumo tournament.

The captain took one look at the giant, practically weapons grade firework that everyone agreed to not touch and knew that it would be set off at some point during the night, whether intentionally or otherwise. He made sure to keep blackmail of all the local firefighters close at hand for the inevitable.

They wound up setting the school roof on fire.

Game day began and the blond bore witness to Mizumachi's unintentional assholery. The teen seemed unable to help but show off (_but why did he feel the need to put on and strip out of a cheer uniform? Just why?_), jumping, flipping and hand standing the way he was.

In direct response, the quarterback set a crowd on the mini fat ass, who graciously obliged him by lifting about fifteen to twenty people over his head and holding them there.

Oh, look, the drunkard's back. He brought a pig with him. Somebody cut this guy off.

The team and Komusubi in particular struggled on valiantly against Kyoshin's attacks, but were largely unsuccessful until the mini-fat ass' parents (_they couldn't be anybody else_) arrived carrying boxes of sake.

Doburoku was suddenly revived.

But Komusubi-dad said something about delivery workers and arms and on the next play the tiny lineman taught himself the rip move. Using the rip effectively against Mizumachi's swim move took a few plays to figure out before it actually worked properly, but it did and the runt burst through.

Only to be promptly flattened by Kakei.

The three linebackers were all over 2m tall and were appropriately known as the 'High Wave'. They also had the added advantage of all three being able to perfectly utilise Kakei's frightening arm techniques. _And would the fucker lay off the 'fake Eyeshield' thing already!? Demon's gonna have his head on a platter if he keeps that up!_

The first points went to Kyoshin. As he devised and discarded various tactics to take back those points, Hiruma spotted the kid and the monkey attempting to plot. Knowing the two worked on very similar wavelengths (at least Monta and Original Sena did), he pulled them into the Wishbone combination play, even though they had never practised it. Hell, they had never even heard of it.

As predicted though, they worked phenomenally well together, earning the team 20 yards and a first down. They continued to use the Wishbone until Hiruma himself scored a touchdown. At the end of the first half, the Devil Bat Ghost had made itself known, and one of the Hiroshi linebackers (_the Atlantic Ocean one? Or was it the Pacific? It was the one with glasses_) had the shit scared out of him.

The fucking blue eyes wasn't just going to sit there and take it however, and so the first play of the second half wrapped up with him crushing the Devil Bat Ghost into the dirt. The kid got back up from that tackle physically, but the blond was sure that a lot of his mental strength was left on the field to be trampled during the following plays. It was, after all, the first time that move took a hit.

And trampled it was as Kakei continued to pummel the kid until the Poseidon team was close enough to take a field goal.

It was times like this that the fucking manager proved her worth to the team. Almost as if she sensed that her precious baby Sena was in distress, all of her observational skills levelled up. Of course, it was near impossible to get the message out to the team, but being Hiruma Yoichi had its advantage. Including being able to interpret exceptionally terrible sign language.

The Kyoshin safety kept moving in to block Deimon's runs, so nobody ever prepared for a pass. The fucking idiot Taki made his presence known on the gridiron and earned them seven yards.

Of course, this got Mizumachi all fired up, so he had to open his big mouth. Deimon already understood that Kyoshin's third years had no more chances, every game was do or die for every team, _you are not that special you moron!_

It wasn't until the blond lineman brought up the fact that Deimon had no third years that he started pissing people off. The moment the words 'next year' left his lips, Sena of all people started yelling back. And it wasn't Demon or Eyeshield either (_though it was easy to see from the boy's stance and volume that all three were in agreement_), but legitimate Sena, yelling about there was no 'next year' for Deimon because all the second years could no longer play.

They drove the point home by scoring another touchdown against Kyoshin. Seven minutes left in the game and the score was 12 -10 to Deimon.

But Kyoshin wasn't quite ready to admit defeat yet. Mizumachi left the line and stood back with Kakei and the Hiroshis. The difficult 'High Wave' and become the indestructible 'Poseidon'. Blocking both runs and passes _and dammit, put a fucking cork in it Kakei, you've made your point repeatedly already! Shut up!_

Taking back their lead, Posiedon managed put five points between themselves and Deimon with only two minutes left in the game. No matter what kind of tricks he pulled, Hiruma couldn't best the 'Poseidon' formation, and with eighteen seconds left on the clock, there was only one thing left to try.

Sena needed to defeat Kakei in a one on one and score a touchdown.

The boy was terrified and was in no state of mind to take on such a difficult opponent. So the blond heaped the pressure onto the smaller teen's shoulders until he crashed and Eyeshield came out. Eyeshield, who still had a bone to pick with Kakei, went out with the promise of passing the linebacker.

Pulling together everything he's learned from America and everything he developed for the ten years of being an errand boy in a single instant, Eyeshield created the Devil Bat Hurricane out of the Ghost's steps and a spinning move. Kakei stood no chance and victory was assured.

That is, until Mizumachi decided he hadn't given up yet.

30cm away from the goal line, the running back was tackled. Hiruma called a timeout to save them, and just in time to snatch up those last two seconds. It was time for the trump card: the Devil Bat Dive.

For a split second, it seemed Mizumachi thwarted them yet again, but Komusubi wasn't having any of that. His tackling the much taller player caused Sena's balance to falter even further and the running back landed just next to the two linemen. Neatly scoring a touchdown and bringing in an amazing comeback victory.

Kakei admitted his closed-mindedness and the mini fat ass and Mizumachi made amends, agreeing to meet again next year.

After sticking around to see the following matches, it quickly became clear that Deimon's next opponent would be Seibu. The most interesting thing learned that day, however, was that Seibu apparently had some secret trump card that they hadn't let out yet. Something they were saving for Deimon.

Some kid called Kaitani Riku.


	19. to Tokyo's Strongest Warriors

Hey all, I'm back. To sum up past events, I got a job, got laid off, job hunted for about a month, got 2 new jobs and got accepted to my first choice university. Therefore, I have had very little time to work on this fic. As a result, I don't think I did this chapter justice, hopefully you still enjoy it though.

To my beloved reviewers, xDarklightx, I tried especially hard with Riku because this is the first time you changed the review you give me. I felt honoured :D shanagi95, don't apologize for not reviewing a chapter when you've hit almost every other one! And while Demon did no trashing today, he certainly wanted to. , I think you've already figured out the HiruSena and I apologize for letting your world crumble (I know what that feels like and I'm still an asshole author :P). otakufan03lover, I hope I continue to live up to your flattery. Rin Hitokiri, I love love love your review :P yaoi puppy, believe it or not, I write Sena like this because I can't write him any other way. He becomes far too wimpy and pathetic if I don't add some sort of hidden intelligence to him.

Alright, story time peeps!

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_Who is Kaitani Riku? _A question that would be answered a lot quicker than anticipated.

Hiruma didn't think much of it when Anezaki got knocked over by some punk. Assholes were everywhere, you learned to get used to them. What caught his attention was when the punk got taken down by a kid no bigger than Sena.

A kid who declared himself Sena's big brother.

The boy was introduced as the mysterious Kaitani Riku and, while not having blood relation to the Kobayakawa family, he addressed himself as 'Sena's big brother' because he taught the brunette how to run. The meeting with the short blond didn't last long and wasn't really that interesting but for some reason Eyeshield had come out again and was really uneasy. The whole way home he was stressing about finding a counter to Riku's run. He was sitting away from everyone on the train, closer to where Hiruma was. The quarterback was about to tell him to take a breather before his brain exploded when the smaller body seized up and the brunette seemed to have trouble breathing. The strategist had only seen this once before but knew what was happening and quickly moved to hide the running back from view. Eyeshield was trying to suppress Demon who wanted out and wanted out _now._

Eyeshield relaxed knowing that the captain was around to control him. The small form slumped a little before tensing back up again, only this time it was out of anger. Demon looked at his upperclassman and quietly explained himself.

_"He left us for dead, Yoichi. He may not have done it on purpose, but he did. We had two weeks where it seemed like everything was going to be okay, and then he left, and everything got So. Much. Worse. The bastard thinks teaching The Original how to run solved all his problems the same way Mamori thinks her interference helped. It didn't. It only aggravated the situation." _The boy's lips twisted into a snarl, a malicious gleam appearing in his eye. _"And he dares to still call himself our big brother after all this time."_

Hiruma made a comment about how they still call Anezaki 'nee-chan' even though she was the exact same as Riku, to which he responded that it was The Original who chose to call her that in the first place. Riku decided that he would be Sena's big brother. On top of that, if the brunette ever stopped calling her 'nee-chan', then she would think something was especially wrong and intervene even further into the running back's life.

The quarterback discreetly gave the younger teen a little nip on the ear the way he loved to calm him down and get his focus back to the blond in front of him. Demon gave him a look that said _I know what you're trying to do, wise guy_ before burrowing into his captain's side, allowing a long arm to wrap around his shoulders. The brunette explained that he knew the best thing to do now was flatten Riku in the game and make him see that Sena wasn't some little kid anymore, _but damn if he just really wanted to beat up the Gunmen running back. _

The second year sympathised with him, and told him so, before informing him that tomorrow's Athletics Day would be a great way to relieve some of the pent up aggression. The underclassman smirked into Hiruma's shirt and said he couldn't wait.

The next day everyone was running hard at practice before Athletics Day officially began. They had a good flow going so the quarterback was irritated that they had to stop so soon. That is, until he saw the team listings. Quickly devising and explaining his new plan to the baldy and manager (_who surprisingly played her part quite convincingly_) Hiruma decided that he wasn't going to teach the kids the bump move. He was going to let them discover it themselves.

_And he was going to have a shitload of fun doing it!_

The Tug-O-War event was a lost cause given that all of Deimon's linemen, more specifically Kurita, were on the red team, but the fucking monkey practically handed the Beanbag Toss to the white team. The moron never failed to pull some stupid manoeuvre and attempting a slam dunk in the bean bag net was nothing if not stupid. The events carried on in a similar fashion; the monkey fainting during the Folk Dance To Hell, Sena and Riku dominating the Three Legged Costume Race, Hiruma using a tank to ensure victory in the Comeback Marathon.

The only event that truly mattered however was at the end: The Mock Cavalry Battle.

The red team was smart enough to not shake the blond captain's hand, but only the running back knew that Yukimitsu and Anezaki were in on the plot. The kid had gotten to know his captain even better than the fucking fat ass did.

The small brunette looked at the cuffs around his wrists and up to the blond that put them there, and that blond knew there would be a lot of SM jabs coming for him when they were next alone. But it was worth it when the first year figured out how to bump other players. Ultimately, the event went to the red team, the baldy and the manager admitted to their lies and every football player on the red team agreed that Hiruma Yoichi was much preferred as an ally than an enemy.

Anezaki disagreed when she found out that the conniving blond had captured all of her acting on film and was keeping it as blackmail material.

Things started going downhill when Riku (_really starting to despise that brat_) decided to confront Sena about being Eyeshield 21. The kid openly admitted to it (_Ishimaru practically had an aneurism_), only for the blond midget to jump down his throat about protecting himself instead of the ball.

_Clearly he's never battled Shin. _

The first year seemed to take his 'big brother's' misguided disappointment in stride and both shorties and the monkey stopped to listen to the quarterback get under Kid's skin.

_Fuck it. His name is Mushyanakoji Shien and that is what he will be called. _

It appeared Shien also had a huge weak point, went by the name of Tetsuma Jo. The man really was a two faced liar, pretending to be completely washed out when he could still fire up like that. But he wasn't the only Gunman who got fired up by Hiruma Yoichi.

Riku had a bone to pick concerning his 'little brother's' welfare. The second year wondered how the midget in front of him went from challenging Sena to the football equivalent of a duel to the death to attempting to bully Hiruma into making sure the brunette didn't get into any especially dangerous situations. Before the platinum blond could get too far into his rant, the quarterback cut him off, saying that if Riku respected Sena even half as much as he suggested he did, he would cut that shit out right now.

_"You don't understand! He's timid and non-confrontational. He's been able to get away with it so far because nobody's really taken Deimon seriously. But this is the big leagues now. The moment he steps on to the field with any of the Kanto Tournament monsters, he's toast! He's not ready for that yet!"_

_Has this kid even MET Shin?_

Hiruma pointed out that he had a lot more experience with Sena on the gridiron than Riku did, and that Sena wasn't the same as he was in middle school anymore. It was Riku that didn't understand. The blond running back was stubborn about his point and refused to so much as listen to any of the second year's arguments, insisting that Sena was not yet prepared for the level of playing he would encounter in the coming games. Eventually, Hiruma had enough and picked the skinny brat up by his collar.

"_Now listen up, you little shit. That kid is a lot more complicated and capable than you can even comprehend, so you shut the fuck up and keep your opinions to yourself. You don't have a clue what you're dealing with, and you won't until you've stared Demon in the eyes and seen all his rage staring back._"

Riku looked shocked and mildly confused at the mention of Demon, but he would learn. He would learn quite well that one did _not _underestimate Demon.


End file.
